Blanka Wladislaw (born Blanka Wertheim, 3 June 1917 – d. 26 January 2012) was a Brazilian

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...

of Polish-Jewish descent.

Biography

Wladislaw was born Blanka Wertheim on 3 June 1917, in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, Congress Poland, a part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. Her family emigrated to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

when she was 14, where they have faced great financial difficulty on their arrival in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

. She decided to dedicate herself to her studies in order to enter the

University of São Paulo The University of São Paulo ( pt, Universidade de São Paulo, USP) is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian public university and the country's most prestigious educational institution, the bes ...

and in 1937 accomplished this, entering the university's Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters and graduated in 1941. Wladislaw's professional career began when she was hired by (Indústrias Reunidas Francisco Matarazzo), but she was determined to go to graduate school. In 1949, she completed her

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

with her thesis analyzing the behavior of various sulfur compounds in presesence of Raney nickel

catalyst Catalysis () is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recyc ...

s, advisor Heinrich Hauptmann,Blanka Wertheim Wladislaw
"Sobre o comportamento de compostos de enxofre em presença de níquel de Raney"
, Ph.D. thesis, advisor: Heinrich Hauptmann and joined the Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences, and Letters as an assistant to Hauptmann. In 1949, she joined the faculty of Organic and Biological Chemistry at the USP to become and became full time assistant professor in 1953. Blanka got a grant from the British government to conduct postdoctoral studies at the

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

on organic

electrosynthesis Electrosynthesis in chemistry is the synthesis of chemical compounds in an electrochemical cell. Compared to ordinary redox reaction, electrosynthesis sometimes offers improved selectivity and yields. Electrosynthesis is actively studied as a scie ...

. In the following decade, Wladislaw researched with organic

electrochemistry Electrochemistry is the branch of physical chemistry concerned with the relationship between electrical potential difference, as a measurable and quantitative phenomenon, and identifiable chemical change, with the potential difference as an outco ...

, again with sulfur compounds. Returning to this field of study in 1971, she would at the same time be promoted to become a full time professor at USP's Institute of Chemistry and in 1975 started the University's Department of Fundamental Chemistry.

Legacy

Blanka Wladislaw wrote more than 115 research papers, 171 papers in congress, and directed four Master's dissertations and 24 Doctoral theses. After retiring, she wrote a guide to the teaching of chemistry and remained at the

as a guest teacher. In 1973, she was elected a full member of the

Brazilian Academy of Sciences The Brazilian Academy of Sciences ( pt, italic=yes, Academia Brasileira de Ciências or ''ABC'') is the national academy of Brazil. It is headquartered in the city of Rio de Janeiro and was founded on May 3, 1916. Publications It publishes a lar ...

, Brazilian Association of Chemists,

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Royal Instit ...

(MRSC), and the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science. The following year she became a member of the São Paulo Academy of Sciences. For the quality of her work in the field of chemistry, Wladislaw was awarded the Brazilian

National Order of Scientific Merit The National Order of Scientific Merit ( pt, Ordem Nacional do Mérito Científico) is an honor bestowed upon Brazilian and foreign personalities recognized for their scientific and technical contributions to the cause and development of science in ...

and the Rheimboldt-Hauptmann Award.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wladislaw, Blanka 1917 births 2012 deaths 20th-century Brazilian scientists 20th-century Polish scientists 20th-century women scientists Academics of Imperial College London Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Brazil Brazilian women chemists Brazilian chemists Electrochemists Members of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences Naturalized citizens of Brazil People from Warsaw Governorate Polish emigrants to Brazil Recipients of the National Order of Scientific Merit (Brazil) University of São Paulo alumni University of São Paulo faculty