We have compiled the life of Elisa Leonida Zamfirescu, who both broke the restrictions placed on women and made it "the world's first female engineer" at a time when it was thought that women could only make a career in the kitchen.
Her full name is Elisa Leonida Zamfirescu, she was born on November 10, 1887 in Galați, Romania. She was born to her father, Atanase Leonida, a career officer, and her mother, Matilda Gill, who was the daughter of a French-born engineer family. One of her parents' 11 children, Elisa's siblings include an engineer, Dimitrie Leonida, and a sculptor, Gheorghe Leonida. First educated at the Central School of Girls, Elisa later graduated from Mihai Viteazul High School.
Determined to follow her interests, Elisa faced a time when science and academia were no girls' business. Due to prejudices against women in science, Elisa was denied education by the School of Bridges and Roads in Bucharest. So in 1909 she applied to the Royal Academy of Technology Berlin (Technical University of Berlin) in Charlottenburg. Elisa, who was very difficult to accept, made this accepted with her knowledge and ambition and graduated in 1912. Despite facing many difficulties and discrimination throughout her education, she managed to graduate with honors from engineering. Thus, Elisa became the first female engineer in the world to graduate and receive a diploma. In the same year, British woman Nina Cameron Graham received a degree in civil engineering from the University of Liverpool.
Returning to Romania, Elisa started working as an assistant at the Romanian Geological Institute. During the First World War she joined the Red Cross humanitarian movement. Elisa, who ran a hospital in Mărășești, Romania, admitted and treated the wounded from the 1917 Battle of Mărășești between the German and Romanian armies.
Around this time, Elisa met the chemist Constantin Zamfirescu, who was the brother of politician and writer Duiliu Zamfirescu. Then the couple got married and had two children. Returning to the Romanian Geological Institute after the war, Elisa took part in the management of several geological laboratories. Some of these laboratories have been involved in various field investigations, including those identifying new sources of coal, shale, natural gas, chromium, bauxite, and copper.
In addition, Elisa was knowledgeable in mathematics, physics and chemistry and was involved in teaching. She has spent many years training staff in laboratories and mentoring young chemists and workers, giving lectures and courses and instilling a passion for science in them.
Working long hours, Elisa tried new techniques and methods to analyze minerals. In addition, she investigated the production of copper-sulphate to be used to destroy harmful fungi in crop plants. She also developed an efficient production method from copper ore she. Among these works, she was involved in studying mineral waters in Romania and the composition of water for industrial consumption. Another study looked at the use of bentonite in wine filtration, and it is still used today to clarify wine.
Elisa, who retired in 1963 at the age of 75, was around this time engaged in activism for the disarmament movement. In memory of Elisa, who died on 25 November 1973 at the age of 86, the street in Bucharest's 1st Sector was named after her. She was also honored with a "Google Doodle" on her birthday anniversary in 2018. In 1997, an award called "Premiul Elisa Leonida-Zamfirescu" was created to be given to women working in science and technology.
Elisa Leonida Zamfirescu, whose name is almost unknown today, is the first female engineering graduate in Romania and the first in Germany. Elisa became a pioneer who should not be forgotten as she paved the way for female engineer candidates who came after her.