Ida Freund
| Ida Freund | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
Ida Freund 15 April 1863 Austria |
| Died | 15 May 1915 (aged 52) Cambridge |
| Nationality | Austrian |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge (BA) |
| Occupation | Chemistry lecturer |
| Known for | Science education |
| Notable work | The Study of Chemical Composition (1904), The Experimental Basis of Chemistry (1920) |
| Home town | Vienna |
Ida Freund (15 April 1863 – 15 May 1914) was the first woman to be a university chemistry lecturer in the United Kingdom. She is known for her influence on science teaching, particularly the teaching of women and girls. She wrote two key chemistry textbooks and invented the idea of baking periodic table cupcakes, as well as inventing a gas measuring tube which was named after her.
Ida Freund was born in Austria. Following the death of her mother, she moved to live with her grandparents in Vienna. In 1881 her grandparents died and she moved to England to live with her uncle and guardian, the violinist Ludwig Straus well known as a member of the Joachim quartet and leader of the Halle orchestra (1875–88). She enrolled at Girton College, achieving a first class honours in the Natural Sciences Tripos course despite having previously had only school level English language skills. She went on to Cambridge Training College for Women as a chemistry lecturer, and one year later joined Newnham College, Cambridge, as a demonstrator. In 1890, she was promoted to staff lecturer in chemistry (1893–1912). This was the first appointment of a woman as a full lecturer in the subject in the UK. She was an associate at Newnham College and then a member of its council.
Her focus on teaching left her little time for research, she did not pursue a master's degree or a doctorate. She was responsible for the laboratory training of her students, many of whom came up to College with little or no knowledge of chemistry. Amongst her students she was thought to be an inspirational teacher and a singular character. She had lost a leg in a cycling accident when she was a girl and used variously walking sticks, a prosthetic leg and a three-wheeled tricycle wheelchair worked with her arms. Her disability and unconventional style of dress made her a distinctive figure which was much remarked upon at the time by colleagues and contemporaries.
Ida Freund was an active feminist and supporter of women’s suffrage. She was amongst the women who fought for admission to the Chemical Society in the early 1900s. Women were eventually admitted to the Society in 1920, six years after her death. She remained at Newnham until her retirement due to ill-health in 1913. The chemistry lab at Newnham was closed following her retirement because by that time female students were admitted to study in departmental chemistry labs in the University. She died on 15 May 1914 following surgery at her home in Cambridge while working on her second book.
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