Kristine Bonnevie, Tine Tammes and Elisabeth Schiemann in Early Genetics: Emerging Chances for a University Career for Women

Abstract

Abstract. The beginning of the twentieth century saw the emergence of the discipline of genetics. It is striking how many female scientists were contributing to this new field at the time. At least three female pioneers succeeded in becoming professors: Kristine Bonnevie (Norway), Elisabeth Schiemann (Germany) and the Tine Tammes (The Netherlands). The question is which factors contributed to the success of these womenÕs careers? At the time women were gaining access to university education it had become quite the norm for universities to be sites for teaching and research. They were still expanding: new laboratories were being built and new disciplines were being established. All three women benefited from the fact that genetics was considered a new field promising in terms of its utility to society; in the case of Tammes and Schiemann in agriculture and in the case of Bonnevie in eugenics. On the other hand, the field of genetics also benefited from the fact that these first female researchers were eager for the chance to work in science and wanted to make active contributions. They all worked and studied in environments which, although different from one another, were positive towards them, at least at the start. Having a patron was generally a prerequisite. Tammes profited from her teacherÕs contacts and status. Bonnevie made herself indispensable through her success as a teacher and eventually made her position so strong that she was no longer dependent on a single patron. The case of Schiemann adds something new; it shows the vulnerability of such dependency. Initially, SchiemannÕs teacher had to rely on the first generation of university women simply because he was unable to attract ambitious young men to his institute. In those early, uncertain years of the new discipline, male scientists tended to choose other, better established, and more prestigious disciplines. However, when genetics itself had become an established field, it also became more attractive to men. Our case studies also demonstrate that a new field at first relatively open to women closes its doors to them once it becomes established.

From exceptional to common presence: Italian women in twentieth-century life sciences

“…In line with developments in other countries (see e.g. Deichmann, 2008 ; Richmond, 2007 ; Stamhuis & Monsen, 2007 ), during the early period of Italian genetics, many research directors were pleased to find skilled female research staff for a field that was still not sufficiently attractive to ambitious young male students, thus indirectly clearing the way for at least three distinguished careers: Luisa Gianferrari, Valeria Bambacioni and Eleonora Francini. Luisa Gianferrari (1890–1977), a trained biologist, focused on human genetic diseases, Mendelian statistics, and eugenics.…”

Women in Early Human Cytogenetics: An Essay on a Gendered History of Chromosome Imaging

“…Archives, highly cited papers, discoveries and highlights, award speeches, memoirs, workshops and conferences, homages and festschrifts, and, particularly in the case of medical genetics, agreements on nomenclature and classifications, all pertain to a set of sources elaborated from the privileged position of male authority. By focusing on women, an inclusive historical narrative can be provided to historicize and chronicle achievements in genetics and their integral position in contemporary clinical practice (see Richmond 1997Richmond , 2007Richmond , 2015Satzinger 2009Satzinger , 2012Stamhuis and Monsen 2007). It has been in the temples of wisdom-universities and hospitals-that genetics has secured its enduring role in contemporary biomedicine (Keating and Cambrosio 2003;Santesmases and Suárez 2015).…”

Race biology

“…Bonnevie specialized in the cytology of marine invertebrates. In 1916 she founded the Institute for Genetic Research to study human genetics at the University of Kristiania [72]. Bonnevie collaborated with the Drosophila geneticist Otto Lous Mohr, the professor of anatomy.…”