Elisa Leonida Zamfirescu – Europe’s First Female Engineer

Editorials News | Nov-14-2018

Elisa Leonida Zamfirescu – Europe’s First Female Engineer

Elisa Leonida Zamfirescu was a pioneer of engineering in a time when women weren't welcome in the field. She was one of the first women to become an engineer. She was born on 10th November, 1887 in the Romanian town of GalaČ›i and perused her engineering in Berlin. Elisa Leonida Zamfirescu was interested and determined to study the sciences. Her maternal grandfather, Charles Gill, was a French-born engineer and her brother, Dimitrie Leonida was a graduate in the field too. But due to racism against women in the sciences, she was rejected by the School of Bridges and Roads in Bucharest. Finally in 1909, she got admission in the Royal Academy of Technology Berlin, Charlottenburg and completed her engineering in 1912.  

However even after she got accepted, she was always pressurised by the dean to quit. He claimed that church, children and kitchen were the only things a woman needed to concern herself with. She worked as an assistant at the Geological Institute of Romania later and managed a hospital in Romania during World War I. After the war, Zamfirescu returned to the Geological Institute and led several geology laboratories and participated in various field studies, including some that identified new resources of coal, shale, natural gas, chromium, bauxite and copper. Not only had this but she also taught physics and chemistry. Zamfirescu was the first woman member of A.G.I.R. (General Association of Romanian Engineers). Her contribution to engineering was recognised by The General Association of the Engineers in Romania who made her their first female member. A Street in Sector 1 of Bucharest was renamed on her name. She was honoured with a Google Doodle on the anniversary of her birthday in 2018. She was 75 years old when she got retired in 1963 and died at the age of 86 on 25th November, 1973. An award for women working in science and technology was established in her name, the Premiul Elisa Leonida-Zamfirescu. She is still remembered as a dedicated engineer who worked hard to achieve her goals. Zamfirescu kept working past retirement age and didn't fully retire until the age of 75 years old after a four-decade career, according to Neagoe. Neagoe also stated that apart from her engineering work, Zamfirescu took a stance in favour of disarmament. As an honour to her, an award named after was created in 1997 known as ‘Premiul Elisa Leonida-Zamfirescu’ that is given to female contributors to the fields of technology and science.

 

By: Anuja Arora

Content: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisa_Leonida_Zamfirescu


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