Secretary

A secretary is a person who performs routine, administrative, or personal tasks for a superior. These often female office employees perform duties such as typing, computer processing, and scheduling for an executive. Secretaries are often hard-working, important members of a business who know its administration workings better than anyone else. They usually work at desks in offices.

In 1952 American businessman Harry F. Klemfuss created a special Secretary's Day holiday in his company, to recognize the hard work of the women in his office. The holiday caught on, and is now celebrated in offices all over the world.

Some office secretaries object to the title of "secretary" saying it sounds demeaning or unimportant. Thus, in recent years the title of Administrative Professional or Administrative Assistant is sometimes substituted.

In some countries, a secretary is also the leader of a department of government, and performs duties equal to that of a minister of a ministry, for example The Secretary of Defense.

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The term secretary is also used to describe a specific type of desk with an hinged working surface, such as a secretary desk, a fall front desk or a Bargueno desk.

Secretary is also the name of a film.