ELIZAVETA KARAMIHAILOVA (1897 - 1968)
the first woman physicist, who managed to cross the "safety-curtain" of Sofia University
Prof. Elizaveta Karamihailova was a
Bulgarian pioneer of radioactivity and the founder of
experimental nuclear physics research in
Bulgaria. She was also the first woman who
managed in 1939 to cross the
safety-curtain of Sofia University and to become a member
of its faculty. This paper aims to illuminate
the main obstacles that have accompanied the
progress of her academic career.
I
guess that all of you have heard of Marie Curie and all of you know that she
has been twice a Nobel Prize winner for her achievement in science, in
particular in physics. Perhaps few
of you have also heard of two other prominent women-physicists, Lise Meitner
and Irene Joliot-Curie. However, the historians of
science only know that at the beginning of the atomic era, between 1900 and 1920, more than 30
female-scientists over the world have conducted studies in the forefront field of radioactivity. A few years ago a new study appeared
devoted to the forgotten female pioneer researchers
in the stated field (1). This study consists of biographical essays of the life
stories of 23 remarkable
female scientists, who formed the first generation of women-scientists in the field of atomic physics. All of them had
a certain contribution to the development of the field, but as a rule their work has been highly
unrecognised (Marie Curie is just a happy exception to the rule that rather confirms the rule
than rejects it). Reading the book, I
was happy to see that the Bulgarian physicist Elizaveta Karamihailova has been acknowledged along
with the other 22 women-scientists over the world for her contribution to the first generation of women
in atomic physics.
So,
who is Elizaveta Karamihailova?
Professor
Elizaveta Karamihailova (1897-1968) was the founder of experimental nuclear physics research in Bulgaria and
the first chair of the department of atomic physics at St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia,
the oldest higher education school in Bulgaria (The
University was founded in 1888, immediately after the Bulgarian liberation from
the Turkish occupation). She was also the
first Bulgarian woman who managed in 1939 to cross the safety-curtain of Sofia University
and to become a member of its faculty, as well as the first Bulgarian woman who at that time
held the position associate professor and later full
professor of
Sofia University. She studied the issue of radioactivity of natural objects
such as mineral spring
waters, rocks, soils, biological objects, etc.
The archive
department at the National Polytechnic Museum in Sofia keeps archive files of Elisaveta Karamihailova. At this
archive I found a 3-page document titled - Biography. The document was hand written
in Bulgarian by Elisaveta Karamihailova. It provides authentic information about the crucial events of
her life, in particular of her life in science. I am giving here a translation of the
document with some cuts : I
was born on September 3 (August 22) 1897 in Vienna, Austria. At that time my father, Ivan Karamihailov (born in
Shumen, a Bulgarian town) studied medicine in Vienna, where he specialised later in surgery. My
mother Mary Slade, was English by nationality (a native of Minster Lovell, Oxfordshire, England) and she
studied at that time also in Vienna.Her subject was Music - piano and
composition. In 1907 the family
established itself in Sofia. In
1917 I finished The First Sofia Girls High School (department of semi-classical studies) with an excellent school-leaving
examination. I went in for additional matriculation on ancient Greek as well. I went to
Vienna and I began there my studies in mathematics and physics at the Philosophical Department
of Vienna University. (I attended there lectures on different philosophical subjects, history
of art, chemistry, astronomy, etc.) In
July 1920, I graduated the Vienna University. In February 1922, I defended my doctoral thesis on der elektrische Figuren auf verschiedenen
aterialen, insbesondere auf Kristallen
and I was awarded a degree Doktor Philosophie. From 1921 to 1923, I carried out research in radio-luminescence at the
Institut fur
Radiumforschung der Akademie der Wissenschaften,
Wien (i.e.The Institute for Radium Studies) under the direction of Professor Karl Przibram. At the same time I entered
as extra listener at the Vienna Polytechnic in order to attend the courses in electrical and radio
engineering. I was even admitted to the practical
training in these subjects. During
the autumn of the 1923, I returned to Bulgaria and started my research in a small attic at the Physical Institute of
Sofia University. I worked there as a Guest Fellow because there was no vacancy for an
assistant professor. Soon I went again to Vienna in order to take part in the research on the
issue of transmutation of light elements under α- radiation,
at the Radium Institute. At the very beginning, the project was funded by
Swedish donors. Due to the
offered financial support from the Rockefeller Foundation, the work on the project was considerably extended and
intensified. After the given permission from the Austrian government, the Institute opened a position for a
research assistant. As far as foreign
nationals were not allowed to hold a tenure position at the Institute, I was
hired there in a temporary
position. In 1933 this position was closed. At that time some of my investigations were still in an
unfinished state and I had money to sustain myself only for a few months ahead. I could ask my family
for a financial support for a short time in order to complete my studies, but I disliked this.
Fortunately and helpfully a friend of mine approached
me with a request to teach her son a foreign language. I accepted gratefully because this part-time job gave me the
opportunity to finish my research projects. Meanwhile, during these 11 years I tried permanently and
unsuccessfully to obtain a tenure
position or at least any position corresponding to my speciality. In 1926 I
entered a competition for a
tenure position for associate professor in physics at Sofia University. I took part also in two other competitions
for Research Fellowships offered by The International
Federation for University Women, in particular from its English, rench and American divisions (My membership of this
Federation dated since 1929 onwards). In
1935 my application for a Research Fellowship was successful and I was granted
a 3-year Alfred Yarrow Research Fellowship
from Girton College in Cambridge. I was employed
by Cavendish Laboratory, whose Director was Lord Rutherford. In 1937 Lord Rutherford passed away and Professor W.L.
Bragg succeeded him. After
my 3-year Fellowship expired I extended my Scholar Visit there for another 10 months due to the hospitality of Girton
College and due to the support of my father. In the autumn of 1939 I returned to Bulgaria. I
used my time in England not only for research activities, but also for visits to different scientific
Institutes in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, The
Netherlands, Belgium and France in order to establish contacts with colleagues
in my
field. During my stay at Cambridge, I received
an invitation from Prof. Smekal to join his research team at the Physical Institute of Halle University
in Germany. I declined the invitation
because I looked forward to obtain at last a position at Sofia University. In 1938-1939 I entered twice a
competition for the tenure position associate professor in physics at the Institute of Physics at
Sofia University. Finally, in December 1939 I was appointed a Lecturer in experimental atomic physics and
radioactivity. At that time, the titular,
Prof. P. Penchev retired and I filled the vacancy. Here I began studies in
cosmic rays and in radioactivity
of mineral spring waters. In
1946 the Readings were shaped into a separate chair of atomic physics. I
supplied my general course in
atomic physics with specialised practical training in the subject (The last ones I still carried out in 1941). A
vacancy for assistant professor at the new department of atomic physics had been announced.
Elisaveta
Karamihailova
The Forgotten Pioneers: What kind of
obstacles, prejudices and discrimination
did the first generation of women in
atomic physics face?
(This section plays on the findings of
the new study A Devotion to Their Science:
Pioneer Women of Radioactivity, (Eds. Rayner-Canham), McGill-Queens
University Press, 1997)
At
the beginning of the 20th c. the research in radioactivity emerged as an interdisciplinary field due to the joint
effort and collaboration between physicists and chemists. In this joint field three major groups of
researchers competed, who had different approaches
to the issue. Because of their different style of research these groups
gradually grew in three research
schools. In the first
place it was the French research group of Marie Curie and her husband Pierre Curie that worked in Paris. The
English research group sprang up from the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University and
gravitated around E. Rutherford. At the same time at
the Radium
Institute in Vienna the Austro-German research group in radioactivity
originated lead by Stefan
Meyer.
Elizaveta Karamihailova was
a member of the Austro-German research group to which Lise Meitner, Marietta Blau, Stefanie Horovitz,
Elizabeth Rona, etc. also belonged. All of
them majored in physics and mathematics at Vienna University (L. Meitner began
her study there in 1901, S. Horovitz in 1907,
M. Blau in 1915 and E. Karamihailova in1917). The socio-cultural milieu of the time, during which the first
generation of women in atomic physics
appeared on the scene of science, as well as the given disciplinary and
institutional context seem to be
of crucial importance for the understanding of their professional path in science. The appeal to the disciplinary and the institutional context
of the early research of radioactivity
reveals at least two peculiarities: firstly, a struggle for recognition
in the field, especially between
the main rivals the French and the
English groups of researchers. Secondly,
the individual work in science was replaced by teamwork as far as the
experimental work in the new
emerging field of radioactivity was hard, complex and labour-, and time- consuming. will focus on the
socio-cultural context of the time because it gave the rise of certain beliefs and prejudices for the
involvement of women in research activities. Let me remind you that the first generation of women
scientists appeared on the scene during
the time when the admission of women to higher education was still problematic
and questionable. At the turn of the 19th c. the prevailing public opinion did not
tolerate the desire of
some girls to enter colleges or universities, but rather opposed such a desire.
This means that those girls who
entered university were self-motivated to challenge the moral code of the society they lived in and enough
courageous to brake the society good
manners. Such an act required indeed
a strong self-image and what is more important a strong personality. The girls desire for higher education, surely, was
encouraged by their families as well. It is not mere chance that by social background the first generation
of women in atomic physics came from
the educated middle class (e.g., medical doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc.). The next step in their professional path,
i.e. the admission of graduate women to a certain
research team was even more problematic and complicated. Here the mentality of the leading male-scientists was of crucial
importance. Some of them were willing to act as supervisors and mentors for female-scientists, while others
refused to do this. Evidently, E. Rutherford
was not only a leading physicist of his time, but also a broad-minded person.
He admitted graduate women to his laboratory
unlike many other men scientists all over the world. As
I already mentioned, the experimental work in the new emerging field of
radioactivity
was hard and each experiment usually lasted many hours. As a rule female researchers in radioactivity were
assigned to perform routine measurements, because of their ability to concentrate on the task and to
grasp details and most importantly because of their precision.The first women scientists
involved in adioactivity research shared common socio-cultural and
institutional environment, which, no doubt, predetermined some common characteristics of their life stories, in
particular of their lives in science, as follows: They worked in
close collaboration and the outcomes of their work appeared in many joint publications. For example,
Elizaveta Karamihailova was co-author of Marietta Blau, Elizabeth Rona, Bertha
Karlik, D. Lea, etc. They built up their own network for mutual support and
they kept personal ontacts till the
very end of their lives. The majority of them remained single. From this brief account one could draw at
least two conclusions: 1.
As newcomers, the first generation of women in atomic physics did not strive
for recognition of their contributions to the
field. Rather, they were thankful to God that
they were allowed at all to enter the particular world of men-scientists. 2. The main driving force in their life
in science therefore was not a scientific career, but their curiosity and the never-ending human endeavour and
pursuit for the understanding of
Nature and its laws. All of them were obsessed by their interest in physics.
Elizaveta
Karamihailova faced in her life in science not only these obstacles coming from the socio-cultural context of her
time, but she suffered additionally from the dramatic political events in her country.The
communist regime took power in Bulgaria in September 1944. Its first decree, dated October 22, 1944, was a decree for
purge among the teaching staff at all levels of the educational system . It provided for the
elimination of those lecturers, who publicly proclaimed the fascist ideology. Under this decree in
January 1945 the founder and Chair of the
theoretical physics department Prof. G. Manev and the chair of the physical chemistry department Prof. I. Stranski were
expelled from Sofia University and were publicly labelled - fascists.
The names of K. Popov, R. Zaykov, R. Kaishev, D. Balarev and E. Karamihailova the masterminds of physical sciences in Bulgaria entered the
extended version of the list of unreliable
scientists. Elizaveta
Karamihailova was anti-Communist and the authorities knew it. The Archive Institute of the Bulgarian
Academy of Sciences holds some archive documents
for E. Karamihailova professional career, including her academic dossier. The majority of these documents, dated from
1953-54, state that she is an enemy of the regime because of her political ignorance. In this connection let
me cite a section of a document from 1953
: Before 9.09.1944 she (i.e.Elizaveta
Karamihailova) was entirely under the influence of a bourgeois-fascist ideology and propaganda. She praised
Germany. She appreciated reactionary
scientists and hated progressive scientists. She spoke openly that Soviet
scientists and literature made
her sick and she called the Russians - barbarians. When the Soviet Army
entered Bulgaria
she said that she would kill herself. After 9.09.1944 she had a negative attitude towards the new regime; she
hated the communists and even supported the organisation of a reactionary circle at the Department (of
Physics at Sofia University). The
above-cited official authorities stand about Elizaveta Karamihailova had been multiplied and in fact had accompanied
the rest of her professional life in science, until her death in 1968. It is not surprising then, that Elizaveta
Karamihailova was never permitted to travel abroad in order to participate in International Conferences,
meetings, etc. and her correspondence
with the Western world was stopped. As a matter of fact till the very end of her life she lived in fear. During 1951-1954, a new attempt was made
for the expulsion of Elizaveta Karamihailova
from Sofia University. Fortunately, this attempt failed because the physicists, Prof. G. Nadjakov and Prof. H. Hristov spoke on her behalf
with the respective authorities. As a
result she kept her position, but was forced to move to the Institute of
Physics of the Bulgarian Academy of
Sciences.
Elizaveta
Karamihailova died of cancer (like many others of her colleagues involved in the early studies in radioactivity)
and left all her property including her beautiful father house to the Bulgarian Academy of
Sciences.
References
1. A Devotion
to Their Science: Pioneer Women of Radioactivity (Eds. Rayner-Canham),
McGill-Queen‘s
University Press, 1997.