13 Facts About Magda Staudinger

Magda Staudinger was a Latvian biologist and botanist who studied macromolecules with her husband Hermann Staudinger and their application to biology.

Magda Staudinger was acknowledged as his collaborator when he won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, and she published seven volumes of his works after his death.

Magda Staudinger was awarded the Grand Order of the Latvian Academy of Sciences Medal for her contributions to the furtherance of science.

Magda Staudinger settled in Germany for her university studies at the University of Berlin.

Magda Staudinger studied plants under Gottlieb Haberlandt and obtained a degree in natural sciences in 1925.

Magda Staudinger then continued her studies at the University of Latvia in Riga under Nikolajs Malta until 1927, when she earned her PhD.

Magda Staudinger met Hermann after she had passed her Latvian state examination and was studying at the Biological Institute on Helgoland in the summer of 1927.

Magda Staudinger studied macromolecules and their chemical structure and collaborated with Hermann for many years.

In 1946, Hermann founded a journal to focus on developments in macromolecular chemistry, Makromolekulare Chemie, and Magda Staudinger served on the editorial board of the journal.

Between 1969 and 1976, Magda Staudinger edited and published seven volumes of the collected works of her husband.

Magda Staudinger strove for more recognition of women in science and joined UNESCO to further those aims in the 1970s, acting as president of the UNESCO German Science Commission from 1970 to 1975.

Magda Staudinger was the first coordinator of the UNESCO Biosphere program.

Magda Staudinger died in Freiburg im Breisgau on 21 April 1997 and was buried beside her husband at the Hauptfriedhof Freiburg Cemetery.