Elisa Leonida Zamfirescu is a Romanian engineer, one of the first women to receive an engineering degree. She was born in Galati, Romania, but qualified in Berlin. During World War I, she managed a hospital in Romania.

Early life and education

Elisa Zamfirescu was born in Galati, Romania, on November 10, 1887. Her father, Atanase Leonida, was a career officer, and her mother, Matilde Gill, was the daughter of an engineer of French descent. She was one of 11 children; her siblings included Dimitrie Leonida, also an engineer, and Gheorghe Leonida, a sculptor.

Because of prejudice against women in the sciences, Zamfirescu was rejected by the School of Bridges and Roads in Bucharest. In 1909 she was admitted to the Berlin Royal Academy of Technology in Charlottenburg. She graduated in 1912 with a degree in engineering. zamfirescu was claimed to be the world’s first female engineer, but the Englishwoman Nina Cameron Graham received her degree in civil engineering from Liverpool University the same year, and the Irish engineer Alice Perry graduated six years before them, in 1906.

Career

Returning to Romania, Zamfirescu worked as an assistant at the Geological Institute of Romania. During World War I, she joined the Red Cross and ran a hospital in the Romanian town of Merăşesti.

Around the same time, she met and married the chemist Constantin Zamfirescu, brother of the politician and writer Duiliu Zamfirescu.

After the war, Zamfirescu returned to the Geological Institute. She directed several geological laboratories and participated in various field studies, including identifying new resources of coal, shale, natural gas, chromium, bauxite, and copper. Zamfirescu also taught physics and chemistry.

Late life and death

Zamfirescu retired in 1963 at age 75. When she retired, she was active in the struggle for disarmament. She died at age 86 on November 25, 1973.

An award for women in science and technology was established in her honor-Premioul Elisa Leonida-Zamfirescu