Marcella Boveri (née O'Grady; October 7, 1863 – October 24, 1950) was an American

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

. She was married to the German biologist

Theodor Boveri Theodor Heinrich Boveri (12 October 1862 – 15 October 1915) was a German zoologist, comparative anatomist and co-founder of modern cytology. He was notable for the first hypothesis regarding cellular processes that cause cancer, and for descr ...

(1862–1915). Their daughter Margret Boveri (1900–1975) became one of the best-known post-war German journalists.

Life

She was born Marcella O'Grady in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, the daughter of Irish immigrants. She attended

Girls' High School Girls' High School was a public high school in Brooklyn, New York. It was in a historically and architecturally notable building at 475 Nostrand Avenue in the Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood. It was built in 1886.''Brooklyn: a soup-to-nuts gu ...

in Boston. She studied with

William Thompson Sedgwick William Thompson Sedgwick (December 29, 1855 – January 25, 1921) was a teacher, epidemiologist, bacteriologist, and a key figure in shaping public health in the United States. Focused on eliminating typhoid, Sedgwick helped create the Sedgwick- ...

at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

, where she became the first woman to receive a degree in biology from MIT. After she completed her post-graduate studies in

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

O'Grady worked as an assistant to the zoologist

Edmund Beecher Wilson Edmund Beecher Wilson (October 19, 1856 – March 3, 1939) was a pioneering American zoologist and geneticist. He wrote one of the most influential textbooks in modern biology, ''The Cell''. He discovered the chromosomal XY sex-determination s ...

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh language, Welsh: ) is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as a ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. She was awarded the Fellowship in Biology for 1887-1889 for advanced study at

. In 1889 she transferred as associate professor to

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...

, and became full professor there in 1893. During this time O'Grady was very much in favour of encouraging women to study and advance themselves in higher education. In 1896 she visited

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

, at a time when women were not allowed to study at university in Germany, where she met her future husband. She started a fresh course of studies there, the only woman at the university at that time, working together with Theodor Boveri. They married on 4 October 1897 at the Convent of the Good Shepherd in

Troy, New York Troy is a city in and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, United States. It is located on the western edge of the county, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River just northeast of the capital city of Albany, New York, Albany. At the ...

. Her daughter Margret was born on 14 August 1900. Much of her work was done in collaboration with her husband and her career followed a pattern different from women scientists of her generation. Her husband died in 1915, from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

, which Marcella was convinced was aggravated by stress due to the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. She returned to the United States in 1925, where she worked at

Albertus Magnus College Albertus Magnus College is a private Catholic university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1925 by the Dominican Sisters of St. Mary of the Springs (now Dominican Sisters of Peace). Its campus is in the Prospect Hill ...

until 1942. While there she translated ''The Origin of Malignant Tumors'', an important book which she had co-written with her husband. She died in 1950 in Trenton,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boveri, Marcella American geneticists 1863 births 1950 deaths Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Harvard University alumni Vassar College faculty Bryn Mawr College faculty American people of Irish descent American expatriates in Germany Scientists from Boston 19th-century American biologists 20th-century American biologists 19th-century American women scientists 20th-century American women scientists Bryn Mawr School people Albertus Magnus College faculty American women academics American women geneticists Girls' High School (Boston, Massachusetts) alumni Biologists from Massachusetts