A doctoral defense delayed by injustice—for 77 years

[mobilehaathi]

Ingeborg Rapoport was 25 when she wrote her doctoral thesis, but she had to wait until Wednesday to defend it before an academic committee—77 years later.

Ms. Rapoport, a 102-year-old retired neonatologist who lives in Berlin, submitted her thesis to the University of Hamburg in 1938, five years after Adolf Hitler took power. Her topic was diphtheria, an infectious disease that was then a leading cause of death among children in the U.S. and Europe.

Ms. Rapoport’s professor, a one-time Nazi party member, praised her work, she recalled. But that wasn’t enough. “I was told I wasn’t permitted to take the oral examination,” she said.

Academic authorities in Berlin cited “racial reasons” for the ban: Ms. Rapoport, née Syllm, was raised as a Protestant, but her mother was Jewish, making her “a first-degree crossbreed” in Nazi parlance. Officials marked her exam forms with a telltale yellow stripe and deemed her ineligible for academic advancement.

link

What fascinating story!

 

[ucfgrad93]

Nicely done! Pretty amazing that she was able to defend her thesis at the age of 102.

 

[mobilehaathi]

Nicely done! Pretty amazing that she was able to defend her thesis at the age of 102.

Should I make it even remotely close to 102, I would be thrilled to be able to perform half as well as she!

 

[ucfgrad93]

Should I make it even remotely close to 102, I would be thrilled to be able to perform half as well as she!

I'd be thrilled just to make it to 102 and be healthy enough to attempt something like that.

 

[mobilehaathi]

I'd be thrilled just to make it to 102 and be healthy enough to attempt something like that.

Hehehe, you're absolutely right.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Fantastic and rather moving story. But brilliant to see some form of belated justice and vindication.

Thanks for posting this.

And yes, what a testament to her strength, resilience and sheer character (not to mention academic prowess; the thirties was not an era where bright academic women found a welcoming home in the natural sciences) that she is in a position to defend her thesis at the age of 102. Brilliant. Sheer class. Great story.

 

[bunnspecial]

Heck, I'm 27 and felt relieved to make it out of my defense alive . A little over a month later, I still have dreams that I showed up and forgot to bring my computer, or that I stood up and couldn't remember anything about what was going on.

It was terrible that she was made to wait so long, but amazing that she was able to do it, and I can't begin to congratulate Dr. Rapoport enough.

 

[SoOrdered]

A true "life's work!"