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217:'s students, working in the inadequate cellars known as the "Katakomben" (catacombs). Humphrey was awarded a grant of £60 a year for three years by the Technical Education Board of the London County Council, but studying in Switzerland was expensive, and Humphrey was "hard up". Werner recognised Humphrey's ability and appointed her as his assistant, with a salary, the first woman to occupy the post. Humphrey worked hard, and her account of the time suggests that she found the social life disappointing.
240:"What a pity for Miss Humphrey that it was not recognized at the time, because she would then have been responsible for an unequivocal proof of the soundness of Werner's coordination theory and the subsequent award of the Nobel prize to him." While one later study has cast doubt on the quality of the sample, Humphrey's status as a pioneer woman scientist remains significant.
220:
Humphrey was "the first of his students to succeed in preparing Werner's first new series of geometrically isomeric cobalt complexes, a class of compounds that were crucial in his development and proof of his coordination theory." One of these compounds, the cis-bis(ethylenediamine)dinitrocobalt(III)
127:(RSC), 8 April 1991, a sample of the original crystals synthesised by Humphrey for her PhD were sent to them by the Swiss Committee of Chemistry, together with a modern CD spectrum of a solution of one crystal. This box of crystals remains on display in the exhibition room of the RSC.
143:, London. She was the youngest of the seven surviving children of Louisa (née Frost, 1831–1911) and John Charles Humphrey (1833–1903). Her mother had been a dressmaker before marriage, and her father was a clerk at the London
782:
262:. However, the attitude to women there was quite different from Zurich, and she would not tolerate a regime where she was not allowed to work in the laboratories in case her presence distracted the men from their work.
154:
John
Humphrey had started life in poor circumstances, his father having been a bootmaker, and he was a great supporter of education for his daughters as well as his sons. Edith grew up in a middle-class household in
652:
Bernal, Ivan (July 1999). "A Sketch of the Life of Edith
Humphrey: A pioneer inorganic chemist who barely missed proving Werner's theory of coordination chemistry a decade before it was demonstrated correct".
775:
973:
768:
477:
Congratulatory address and book of isolation of coordination compound by Edith
Humphrey from the Swiss Committee of Chemistry to the Royal Society of Chemistry on its sesquicentenary
247:
was accepted by the
University of Zurich in 1901. Humphrey was the first British woman to obtain a doctorate in chemistry, though not the first in Zurich. An American chemist,
968:
590:
Bernal, Ivan; Kaufmann, George B. (July 1987). "The spontaneous resolution of cis-bis(ethylenediamine)dinitrocobalt(III) salts: Alfred Werner's overlooked opportunity".
672:
Ernst, Karl-Heinz; Wild, Ferdinand R W P; Blacque, Olivier; Berke, Heinz (November 2011). "Alfred Werner's
Coordination Chemistry: New Insights from Old Samples".
998:
993:
494:
278:, but little is known of her work there. In the 1911 census, she was living in Hampstead with her two elder sisters, and gave her profession simply as "chemist".
958:
983:
286:
274:, a British manufacturer of fabrics and wallpaper, where she worked until she retired. She was employed as a research chemist at their factory in
289:
was passed. Humphrey was subsequently elected to fellowship on 4 May 1933, twenty-nine years after she signed the first petition to the society.
978:
805:
791:
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bromide, was the first synthesis of a chiral octahedral cobalt complex. In 1991, the Swiss
Committee on Chemistry donated Humphrey's chiral
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201:, with a scholarship of £60 per annum. On completion of her degree, she applied to do a PhD at the University of Zurich.
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92:(11 September 1875 – 25 February 1978) was a British inorganic chemist who carried out pioneering work in
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245:Über die Bindungsstelle der Metalle in ihren Verbindungen und über Dinitritoäthylendiaminkobaltisalze
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251:, had already done so in 1887, and it had become "a haven for women students from all over Europe".
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for admission of women to fellowship. This was eventually granted in 1920 after the
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An interview with
Humphrey about her experiences in Zurich was published in the
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159:, London. Her two elder sisters became teachers, and her brothers, including
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685:
545:"Pounding on the Doors: The Fight for Acceptance of British Women Chemists"
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Chemistry Was Their Life: Pioneering
British Women Chemists, 1880–1949
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In 1904, Humphrey was one of nineteen women chemists to petition the
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Rayner-Canham, Marelene; Rayner-Canham, Geoff (23 February 2009).
114:
743:
Rayner-Canham, Maralene; Rayner-Canham, Geoff (3 December 2008).
254:
On completion of her thesis, Humphrey was recommended to move to
357:"England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007"
326:"England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915"
764:
209:
On 17 October 1898, Humphrey matriculated for chemistry at the
197:
From 1893 to 1897 Humphrey studied chemistry (and physics) at
301:
Edith
Humphrey died on 25 February 1978 in Highgate, London.
707:
Rayner-Canham, Marelene; Rayner-Canham, Geoff (1 May 2006).
104:. She is thought to be the first British woman to obtain a
270:
After her return to
England, Humphrey joined the staff of
571:
Humphrey, Edith (June 1900). "The University of Zurich".
119:
Sample of crystals prepared by Edith Humphrey around 1900
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Rayner-Canham, Marelene; Rayner-Canham, Geoff (2008).
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Rayner-Canham, Marelene; Rayner-Canham, Geoff (2003).
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798:
135:Edith Humphrey was born on 11 September 1875 at 41
108:in chemistry and the first chemist to synthesize a
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42:
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974:People educated at North London Collegiate School
167:, and William Humphrey (1863–1898), head of the
123:On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the
709:"Pioneering women chemists of Bedford College"
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8:
631:. Imperial College Press. pp. 148–150.
431:"Humphrey, Edith Ellen (1875–1978), chemist"
969:People educated at Camden School for Girls
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493:: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
443:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.90000382359
298:on her 100th birthday, 11 September 1975.
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674:Angewandte Chemie International Edition
435:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
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306:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
287:Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919
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999:20th-century British women scientists
994:19th-century British women scientists
806:1904 petition to the Chemical Society
553:Bulletin for the History of Chemistry
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577:Royal Holloway, University of London
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515:Brandon, Ruth (11 September 1975).
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959:Alumni of Bedford College, London
179:, were educated to degree level.
37:Edith Humphrey in her laboratory.
483:, London, 1991, AR0497 / AR0497a
308:published an entry on Humphrey.
984:20th-century British scientists
213:. She joined a growing band of
188:North London Collegiate School
1:
979:19th-century British chemists
898:Grace Toynbee (Mrs Frankland)
593:Journal of Chemical Education
163:(1868–1951), inventor of the
852:Mildred Gostling (Mrs Mills)
717:. Vol. 43, no. 3.
913:Katharine Isabella Williams
272:Arthur Sanderson & Sons
258:to continue research under
145:Metropolitan Board of Works
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964:British women centenarians
747:. Imperial College Press.
719:Royal Society of Chemistry
655:The Chemical Intelligencer
481:Royal Society of Chemistry
227:Royal Society of Chemistry
125:Royal Society of Chemistry
878:Ida Smedley (Mrs Maclean)
517:"Going to Meet Mendeleev"
30:
1004:People from Kentish Town
629:Chemistry Was Their Life
573:Bedford College Magazine
429:Bunting, Judith (2023).
131:Early life and education
837:Elizabeth Eleanor Field
832:Clare de Brereton Evans
579:: 25–28. BC AS200/3/42.
199:Bedford College, London
184:Camden School for Girls
161:Herbert Alfred Humphrey
94:co-ordination chemistry
954:British women chemists
714:Education in Chemistry
686:10.1002/anie.201104477
229:, and they are now at
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989:20th-century chemists
827:Katherine Alice Burke
249:Rachel Holloway Lloyd
205:Postgraduate research
186:and then, from 1891,
149:London County Council
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243:Her doctoral thesis
211:University of Zurich
98:University of Zurich
90:Edith Ellen Humphrey
25:Edith Ellen Humphrey
606:1987JChEd..64..604B
112:inorganic complex.
939:Inorganic chemists
893:M. Beatrice Thomas
392:"Fight for Rights"
304:In July 2023, the
256:Leipzig University
182:Humphrey attended
169:Fourah Bay College
121:
921:
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883:Alice Emily Smith
614:10.1021/ed064p604
452:978-0-19-861412-8
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53:11 September 1875
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934:British chemists
888:Millicent Taylor
867:Dorothy Marshall
792:The Letter of 19
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721:. pp. 77–79
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799:The petition
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723:. Retrieved
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575:. Archives,
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192:Frances Buss
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177:Sierra Leone
157:Kentish Town
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141:Kentish Town
137:Lismore Road
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63:(1978-02-25)
18:
949:1978 deaths
944:1875 births
661:(1): 28–31.
407:(3): 56–59.
70:Nationality
928:Categories
847:Ida Freund
822:Lucy Boole
312:References
266:Later life
147:and later
49:1875-09-11
458:12 August
372:15 August
341:15 August
106:doctorate
78:Education
738:See also
694:21989993
489:citation
276:Chiswick
223:crystals
173:Freetown
725:19 June
602:Bibcode
362:FreeBMD
331:FreeBMD
225:to the
96:at the
73:British
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692:
635:
529:(966).
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235:London
110:chiral
100:under
548:(PDF)
395:(PDF)
233:, in
749:ISBN
727:2018
690:PMID
633:ISBN
560:(2).
495:link
460:2023
447:ISBN
374:2020
343:2020
58:Died
43:Born
682:doi
610:doi
439:doi
367:ONS
336:ONS
171:in
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
