Stephansen, Elizabeth (1872–1961)

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Stephansen, Elizabeth (1872–1961)

Norwegian mathematician. Name variations: Mary Ann Elizabeth Stephansen; Trasa Stephansen. Born Mar 10, 1872, in Bergen, Norway; died Feb 23, 1961; graduate of Eidgenössische Polytechnikum Zurich in Switzerland, 1896; University of Zurich, PhD, 1902.

The only Norwegian to pass the Eidgenössische Polytechnikum Zurich entrance exam and the 1st Norwegian woman to obtain a doctorate, served as a teacher in Bergen (1896–98); published a doctoral thesis in Archiv for Mathematik og Naturvidenskab (1902); awarded a Norwegian travel grant to study at the University of Göttingen in Germany (1902–03); worked as a teacher in Oslo (1904–06); as an employee of the Norwegian College of Agriculture (Landbrukshoiskole) at As, worked as an assistant and taught math and physics (1906–21) and later served as a math docent (1921–37); retired (1937). Fluent in German, was awarded the King's Medal of Service for assisting Norwegians in the German prisoner-of-war camp Espeland during WWII.

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