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Pauline Ramart

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Pauline Ramart
in 1927
Born(1880-11-22)November 22, 1880
14th arrondissement of Paris
DiedMarch 17, 1953(1953-03-17) (aged 72)
15th arrondissement of Paris
EducationUniversity of Paris
OccupationProfessor
Known forFrench chemist and politician
SpouseMaurice Charles Auguste Ramart

Pauline Ramart, also known as Pauline Ramart-Lucas, (22 November 1880 – 17 March 1953) was a French chemist and a politician. Active in organic chemistry, she was the second woman to be appointed as a full professor at the University of Paris, after Marie Curie.[1] In the Second World War, as a Jewish women she was dismissed from her teaching post at the Sorbonne but became active in the French resistance.[2]

Early life and education

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Born on 22 November 1880 in Paris, Pauline Ramart was the daughter of blacksmith René Lucas and his wife Marie Perrine Ceniguar. To support her studies, she sold artificial flowers in the neighbourhood of the Sorbonne. When she was 18, she gave birth to her son Auguste René Lucan on 17 July 1898. On 3 October 1911, she married the lawyer Maurice Charles Auguste Ramart, born 26 January 1863.[2]

Determined to study, in 1904 she enrolled in evening classes and correspondence courses. After earning her baccalauréat (secondary school diploma), she worked in Albin Haller's laboratory at the Faculté des Sciences.[2] He gave her English lessons and promoted her interest in chemistry. At the age of 29, she earned a licence in physical sciences.[3]

Career

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As pictured in Femmes françaises, November 1944

Ramart started her professional career in the laboratory of Albin Haller at the Faculty of Sciences in Paris. She then became a trainer at the Pasteur Institute. In 1913 she earned her doctorate in organic chemistry on the "synthesis of alcohols" from the University of Paris, Sorbonne under the supervision of Haller.[1]

After completing long years of service at the Pasteur Institute, in 1925 Ramart became a lecturer at the Faculty of Sciences, University of Paris, with the support of atomic physicist Jean Perrin.[4][1] In 1930 she became the second woman to be appointed as a full professor at the University of Paris. The first was Marie Curie.[5][6]

At the start of World War II, Ramart was research director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, where she studied the link between UV spectra and chemical reactions for radiology. She received several scientific awards for her work. In 1941, she was dismissed from the Faculty of Sciences by the collaborationist Vichy regime because she was a Jewish woman. She then joined the French Resistance and worked with a group of radiology researchers at the Pasteur Institute. She was one of the first university women to join the resistance and remained active until the liberation. Thereafter she was able to return to her teaching post at the Sorbonne.[2]

Ramart was the chair of organic chemistry at the Faculty of Sciences in Paris from 1944 until her death in 1953. A feminist, she was elected to the Free France Provisional Consultative Assembly in 1944, where she campaigned for women's suffrage during her term as the vice-president of the National Education section of the Provisional Consultative Assembly.[5] Women did not receive the right vote in France until 1944,[7] although Marie Denizard had stood unsuccessfully in a Presidential election in 1913.[8]

Ramart received several awards and recognition for her contributions to science, including the France’s Legion of Honor, and the Ellen H. Richards Research Prize from the American Association of University Women.[9][4]

Ramart died in Paris on 17 March 1953.[1]

Commemoration

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In 2026, Ramart was announced as one of 72 historical women in STEM whose names were proposed to be added to the 72 men already celebrated on the Eiffel Tower. The plan was conceived by a student and tour guide named Bernard Rigaud[10] and the list was announced by the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo following the recommendations of a committee led by Isabelle Vauglin of Femmes et Sciences and Jean-François Martins, representing the operating company which runs the Eiffel Tower.[11][12][13][14]

Earlier, a street in Montpellier was named to commemorate her.[2]

Selected publications

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See also the OCLC/VIAF full list of publications.[15]

  • Contribution à l'étude de l'action des organomagnésiens sur les trialcoylacétophénomes. thèse de doctorat. 1913..
  • Notice sur la vie et les travaux de Albin Haller, Paris, Dupont, 1926.
  • L'effort créateur des chimistes, Paris, Editions de la Revue politique et littéraire (Revue bleue) et de la Revue scientifique, 1929.
  • Rapports et discussions relatifs à la constitution et à la configuration des molécules organiques, Paris, Gauthier-Villars, 1931.
  • Relations entre la structure des molécules organiques et leur spectre d'absorption dans l'ultraviolet, Paris, Société chimique de France, 1932.
  • Titres et travaux scientifiques de Pauline Ramart-Lucas (1924-1934), Paris, Impressions de la Cour d'Appel, 1934.
  • Structure des hétérosides d'après leur absorption dans l'ultraviolet, avec M. J. Rabaté, 1935.
  • Traité de chimie organique Tome II, publié sous la direction de Victor Grignard, avec A. Andant et M. Auméras, Paris, Masson, 1936.
  • Aperçu de chimie organique, Paris, Hermann, 1937.

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 Ogilvie, Marilyn Bailey (2000). The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: L-Z. Oxfordshire: Taylor & Francis. p. 1069. ISBN 978-0-415-92040-7. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Girault, Jacques; Pinault, Michel (3 June 2014). "Ramart-Lucas Pauline, Rose". Le Maitron. Retrieved 15 June 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ↑ Oakes, Elizabeth H. (2007). Encyclopedia of World Scientists. New York City: Infobase Publishing. p. 614. ISBN 978-1-438-11882-6. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  4. 1 2 Oakes 2007, p. 615.
  5. 1 2 Apotheker, Jan (2011). European Women in Chemistry. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. p. NA. ISBN 978-3-527-63646-4. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  6. ↑ Sheffield, Suzanne Le-May (2006). Women and Science: Social Impact and Interaction. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-813-53737-5. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  7. ↑ "Il y a 80 ans, les Françaises obtenaient le droit de vote ! | Europe 1". www.europe1.fr (in French). 2024-04-14. Retrieved 2026-02-09.
  8. ↑ "LE SAVIEZ-VOUS ? La France est l'un des derniers pays d'Europe à avoir autorisé le droit de vote des femmes | Europe 1". www.europe1.fr (in French). 2020-03-07. Retrieved 2026-02-09.
  9. ↑ Rife, Patricia (2019). Lise Meitner and the Dawn of the Nuclear Age. Lexington, Massachusetts: Plunkett Lake Press. p. NA. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  10. ↑ "The Hypatia project: engraving the names of 72 women scientists on the Eiffel Tower". Sorbonne Université. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
  11. ↑ "Eiffel Tower: a list of 72 women scientists will soon be inscribed on the Parisian monument", www.sortiraparis.com, retrieved 2026-02-02
  12. ↑ "Les noms des 72 femmes pour la Tour Eiffel ont été révélés.", Femmes & Sciences (in French), retrieved 2026-02-22
  13. ↑ 72 femmes de sciences pour la tour Eiffel Femmes & Sciences (in French). Retrieved 2026-02-22
  14. ↑ Eiffel Tower to honor 72 women scientists for posterity, 2026-01-26, retrieved 2026-02-03
  15. ↑ "Ramart-Lucas, Pauline (1880-1953)". Retrieved 14 June 2026.
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