Margarete Von Wrangell
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Margarethe Mathilde von Wrangell, after 1928 Princess Andronikow, ''née'' Baroness von Wrangell (7 January 1877 in
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
– 21 March 1932 in Hohenheim) was a
Baltic German Baltic Germans ( or , later ) are Germans, ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950), their resettlement in 1945 after the end ...
agricultural chemist and the first female full
professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...
at a
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
university.


Studies and early professional years

Margarete von Wrangell originated from the old
Baltic German Baltic Germans ( or , later ) are Germans, ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950), their resettlement in 1945 after the end ...
noble
house of Wrangel The Wrangel family (sometimes transliterated as Wrangell or Vrangel; ) is a Baltic German noble family with branches in several countries. Members of the family have also been part of the Swedish, Russian, Spanish, and Prussian nobility. The ...
. She spent her childhood in Moscow, Ufa and Reval (today
Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...
). She attended a German girls’ school in Tallinn. After passing the teachers' qualifying examination with honours in 1894, she gave private lessons in science for several years. She also occupied herself in painting and writing short stories. Attending a botany course at
University of Greifswald The University of Greifswald (; ), formerly known as Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald, is a public research university located in Greifswald, Germany, in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Founded in 1456, it is one of th ...
in 1903 became a turning point in her life. As of spring 1904, she studied Natural Sciences in Leipzig and Tübingen and, in 1909, received her
PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
in chemistry from the
University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...
summa cum laude. The topic of her dissertation was 'Isomerism of Formyl-glutaconic Acid ester and its bromine derivatives'. This was followed by years of further scientific study and travel. In 1909, she worked as an assistant at the Agricultural Experimental Station in
Dorpat Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...
; in 1910, she participated in the work of
William Ramsay Sir William Ramsay (; 2 October 1852 – 23 July 1916) was a Scottish chemist who discovered the noble gases and received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904 "in recognition of his services in the discovery of the inert gaseous elements ...
in London in the field of
radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'' consisting of photons, such as radio waves, microwaves, infr ...
; in 1911, she became an assistant at the Institute of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry in
Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
; and in 1912, she worked for several months with
Marie Curie Maria Salomea Skłodowska-Curie (; ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934), known simply as Marie Curie ( ; ), was a Polish and naturalised-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was List of female ...
at the Curie Institute in Paris. At the end of 1912, she became head of the Estonian Agricultural Experimental Station of the Agricultural Association in Reval. Her main task was overseeing
seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...
, feeds and
fertilizer A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from liming materials or other non-nutrient soil amendments. Man ...
s. In the course of the Russian
October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...
, her institute was closed; she was arrested, but managed to flee to Germany in 1918.


Research

Beginning in summer 1918, von Wrangell worked at the Agricultural Research Station in Hohenheim, from 1920 on as a department leader. Her first scientific experiments focussed on the behaviour of
phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol P and atomic number 15. All elemental forms of phosphorus are highly Reactivity (chemistry), reactive and are therefore never found in nature. They can nevertheless be prepared ar ...
in the soil. In 1920 she completed her
Habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...
at the Agricultural University of Hohenheim with a dissertation on ''Uptake of Phosphoric Acid and Soil Reactions''. In 1923, she was appointed a full
professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...
in
Plant Nutrition Plant nutrition is the study of the chemical elements and compounds necessary for plant growth and reproduction, plant metabolism and their external supply. In its absence the plant is unable to complete a normal life cycle, or that the element i ...
at Hohenheim. With financial support from the
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
, she was awarded her own Institute for Plant Nutrition, endowed with laboratories and an experimental field. She headed this institute until her death in 1932.


Impact

Outside professional circles, Margarete von Wrangell’s life and scientific work was known especially through her biography, published after her death and entitled ''Margarethe von Wrangell. A woman's life from 1876 to 1932. From diaries, letters and memories represented by Prince Vladimir Andronikov''. The book was first published in 1935 and went through several editions. In the Federal Republic of Germany, Margarete von Wrangell was first 'rediscovered' by feminists. Her extraordinary life has made her a central figure in modern women's and
Gender Studies Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field n ...
. Since 1970, numerous publications have examined aspects of her life and social environment. Within agricultural historical gender research, she has long since been ranked among the outstanding pioneers of agriculture. Two government funding bodies were named after her: In 1992, the government of
North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...
created the ''Foundation Margarethe von Wrangell'' (''Margarethe von Wrangell-Stiftung e. V.''), which promotes collaboration between universities and the SME sector; and in 1997, the Ministry of Science Baden-Württemberg launched the ''Margarete von Wrangell Habilitation Program for Women'', which promotes the habilitation of qualified women scientists.Margarete von Wrangell Habilitation Program for Women
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Selected publications

* ''Phosphorsäureaufnahme und Bodenreaktion''. Verlagsbuchhandlung Paul Parey Berlin 1920. Habilitationsschrift Landwirtschaftliche Hochschule zu Hohenheim 1920. * ''Gesetzmäßigkeiten bei der Phosphorsäureernährung der Pflanze''. Verlagsbuchhandlung Paul Parey Berlin 1922. * (Ed.) ''Die Düngerlehre.'' Von D. N. Prjanischnikow. Professor an der Landwirtschaftlichen Hochschule in Moskau. Nach der fünften russischen Auflage herausgegeben von M. von Wrangell. Verlagsbuchhandlung Paul Parey Berlin 1923. * "Ernährung und Düngung der Pflanzen. In: ''Handbuch der Landwirtschaft''. Herausgegeben von F. Aereboe, J. Hansen und Th. Roemer. Verlagsbuchhandlung Paul Parey Berlin 1929. Volume 2, pp. 295–396.


See also

* List of Baltic German scientists


Notes and references


Further reading

* * *


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wrangell, Margarete German agriculturalists German nobility Baltic-German nobility 1877 births 1932 deaths 20th-century German chemists German women chemists 20th-century German women scientists Academic staff of the University of Hohenheim
Margarete Margarete is a German feminine given name. It is derived from Ancient Greek ''margarites'' (μαργαρίτης), meaning "the pearl". Via the Latin ''margarita'', it arrived in the German sprachraum. Related names in English include Daisy, ...