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(Mary Ann) Elizabeth Stephansen (10 March 1872 – 23 February 1961) was a Norwegian mathematician and educator. She was one of the first Norwegian women to be awarded a doctorate degree.
Biography
Stephansen was born in
Bergen, Norway. She was the eldest daughter of Anton Stephan Stephansen (1845–1929) and Gerche Reimers Jahn (1848–1935).
Her father was a merchant and owner of a textile shop. He later established the textile factory, Espelandfos Spinderi & Tricotagefabrik, in
Arna.
She was educated at the
Bergen Cathedral School
Bergen Cathedral School (Norwegian: ''Bergen Katedralskole'', Latin: ''Schola Cathedralis Bergensis'', formerly known as Bergens lærdeskole and Bergen latinskole and colloquially known as Katten) is an upper secondary school in Bergen, Norway. Loc ...
graduating in 1891.
She was fluent in the German language and traveled to
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
to continue her education. She attended
Eidgenössische Polytechnikum in
Zurich and graduated in 1896. Her thesis ''Ueber partielle Differentialgleichungen vierter Ordnung die ein intermediäres Integral besitzen'' was published in 1902. She obtained her doctorate (
Dr. Philos.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...
) in absentia from the
University of Zurich in the fall of 1902.
In 1902–1903, she traveled to the
University of Göttingen under a government grant to attend lectures by noted German mathematicians,
Ernst Zermelo
Ernst Friedrich Ferdinand Zermelo (, ; 27 July 187121 May 1953) was a German logician and mathematician, whose work has major implications for the foundations of mathematics. He is known for his role in developing Zermelo–Fraenkel axiomatic se ...
,
David Hilbert
David Hilbert (; ; 23 January 1862 – 14 February 1943) was a German mathematician, one of the most influential mathematicians of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Hilbert discovered and developed a broad range of fundamental ideas in many a ...
and
Felix Klein. She first served as a teacher of mathematics at Bergen Cathedral School and Bergen Technical School. Between 1905–1906, she completed mathematical research and wrote further papers on difference equations. From 1906 until her retirement in 1937 she worked at the
Agricultural College of Norway at
Ã…s in
Akershus
Akershus () is a traditional region and current electoral district in Norway, with Oslo as its main city and traditional capital. It is named after the Akershus Fortress in Oslo. From the middle ages to 1919, Akershus was a fief and main county ...
. She first taught physics and mathematics. In 1921, she was appointed
Docent
The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French " ''maître de conf ...
in mathematics.
In retirement, she lived at the family farm at Espeland in Arna (''Espeland, gnr. 289, gårdsbruk i Arna'') which her father had first acquired during 1918. After the liberation of Norway in 1945, she was awarded the
King's Medal of Merit (''Kongens fortjenstmedalje'') for the assistance she rendered to Norwegian prisoners held at the Nazi operated
Espeland concentration camp (''Espeland fangeleir''). She died during 1961 at
Espeland
Espeland is a village in the borough of Arna in the municipality of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. Espeland is located north of Lake Haukeland ( no, Haukelandsvatnet) and Mount Livarden. The village of Indre Arna lies about to the north.
...
in the borough of
Arna and was buried at Solheim Cemetery in the
Ã…rstad district of Bergen.
References
Other sources
*Kari Hag and Peter Lindqvist (1997
''Elizabeth Stephansen: A pioneer''Skrifter det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskab 2, 1-23.
*Catharine M. C. Haines (2001) "Stephansen, Mary Ann Elizabeth" i
''International Women in Science: A Bibliographical Dictionary to 1950''(Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, Inc., pgs 295-296)
Related reading
*
Gila Hanna
Gila Hanna is a Canadian mathematics educator and philosopher of mathematics whose research interests include the nature and educational role of mathematical proofs, and gender in mathematics education. She is professor emerita in the Department ...
, ed. (2006
''Towards Gender Equity in Mathematics Education''(Volume 3 of New ICMI Study Series. Springer Science & Business Media)
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephansen, Elizabeth
1872 births
1961 deaths
Scientists from Bergen
People educated at the Bergen Cathedral School
ETH Zurich alumni
Academic staff of the Norwegian College of Agriculture
Norwegian women mathematicians
20th-century Norwegian mathematicians
Recipients of the King's Medal of Merit
