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Google pays tribute to Romanian engineer Elisa Leonida Zamfirescu
Born on November 10, 1887, in the Romanian port city of Galai, Zamfirescu was one of the world’s first female engineers.
Google Doodle on Saturday honoured Romanian engineer Elisa Leonida Zamfirescu, on what would have been her 131st birthday.
Born on November 10, 1887, in the Romanian port city of Galai, Zamfirescu was one of the world’s first female engineers. Due to prejudices against women in the sciences, Zamfirescu was rejected by the School of Bridges and Roads in Bucharest.
“Undeterred, she applied to the Royal Technical Academy in Berlin, where one of the deans said she would be better off focusing on “Kirche, kinder, and kuche” (Church, children, and cooking),” read Google’s blog post.
She graduated in 1912, with a degree in engineering. Zamfirescu was also the first female member of A.G.I.R. (General Association of Romanian Engineers) and eventually ran laboratories for the Geological Institute of Romania.
“Zamfirescu oversaw numerous Economic Studies analysing Romania’s supply of natural resources like coal, shale, natural gas, chromium, bauxite, and copper. She was known for paying special attention to the training of staff and spending long hours mentoring young chemists,” the post added.
She joined the Red Cross during World War I. Around this time, she met and married chemist Constantin Zamfirescu.
Zamfirescu died at the age of 86 on November 25, 1973. In 1993 - twenty years after her passing - her legacy was commemorated in Romania’s capital city by naming a street in her honour.
