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

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

Polish-Jewish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jews, Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long pe ...

descent.

Biography

Wladislaw was born Blanka Wertheim on 3 June 1917, in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...

, a part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. Her family emigrated to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

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

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

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

University of São Paulo The Universidade de São Paulo (, USP) is a public research university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, and the largest public university in Brazil. The university was founded on 25 January 1934, regrouping already existing schools in ...

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 ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

with her thesis analyzing the behavior of various

sulfur compounds Sulfur compounds are chemical compounds formed the element sulfur (S). Common oxidation states of sulfur range from −2 to +6. Sulfur forms stable compounds with all elements except the noble gases. Electron transfer reactions Sulfur polyca ...

in presesence of

Raney nickel Raney nickel , also called spongy nickel, is a fine-grained solid composed mostly of nickel derived from a nickel–aluminium alloy. Several grades are known, of which most are gray solids. Some are pyrophoric, but most are used as air-stable s ...

catalyst Catalysis () is the increase in rate of a chemical reaction due to an added substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed by the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recycles quick ...

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, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

on organic

electrosynthesis In electrochemistry, electrosynthesis is the synthesis of chemical compounds in an electrochemical cell. Compared to ordinary redox reactions, electrosynthesis sometimes offers improved selectivity and yields. Electrosynthesis is actively stud ...

. In the following decade, Wladislaw researched with organic

electrochemistry Electrochemistry is the branch of physical chemistry concerned with the relationship between Electric potential, electrical potential difference and identifiable chemical change. These reactions involve Electron, electrons moving via an electronic ...

, 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 Brazilian commonly refers to: * Brazil, a country * Brazilians, its people * Brazilian Portuguese, its dialect Brazilian may also refer to: * "The Brazilian", a 1986 instrumental music piece by Genesis * Brazilian Café, Baghdad, Iraq (1937) * Bra ...

, Brazilian Association of Chemists,

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

(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 () is an honor bestowed upon Brazilian and foreign personalities recognized for their scientific and technical contributions to the cause and development of science in Brazil. It was instituted on March 16, 19 ...

and the Rheimboldt-Hauptmann Award.

References

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