edited by
JOHN H. WOTlZ Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Illinois 62901
The Deadly Outcome of Chance-Vera Estaf'evna Bogdanovskaia
this study, because of the difficulty of working with the compound and suggested his own prohlem-the study of the reduction of aromatic ketones, which originated during the time of his famous work with the synthesis of alizarin.
E l e a n o r S. E l d e r a n d S u e - D e e Lazzerini University of New Orleans Neui Orleans, Louisiana 70122
T h e footnote continues with a summary of her work on dihenzylketone, most of which was published in reference ( 4 ) . A final paragraph notes t h a t she died before her thirtieth year. It is disappointing t h a t we learn nothing from this article I n t h e spring of 1897, the British scientific periodical N a of the background and circumstances which caused a Russian ture ( 1 ) and the American periodical Science (2) carried short woman of t h e late nineteenth century t o pursue a career in ohituary notices for Dr. Vera Bogdanovskaia-Popova, who was chemistrv so sinele-mindedlv. From Gustavsona and t h e killed bv a n exnlosion in her own laboratorv a t Izhevsk in t h e ohituary;n Nature, we k n o w t h a t Vera Estafevna went to south central region of Russia. Although her story is obscured Geneva in 1890 a n d obtained her Doctor of Science degree in now bv harriers of time. dace. and lanauaae. i t is m i t e obvious 1892 from t h e University of Geneva for work on dibenzylket h a t ;he was a n intri'i~ing'~ersonak;who showed great tone. Her major professor was Dr. Carl Graehe, best known nromise a s a chemist and exceptional ahilitv a s a teacher. for his synthesis of t h e natural dye alizarin, a process which T h e folIou,ini: excerpts tram a n articlr pul~lishedin the led t o the development of the Germany dye industry (5).She v G. Jortrnnl o/ the Kuisron P I r ~ ~ ~ c a l - C l r t ~ n. 5~' t~~t f-~oi lby evidently also studied under Dr. Philippe-Auguste Guye, who (:u.;tn\,a)na 131, either her student or colleague,' arc a a t this time was particularlv interested in stereochemistry and t u u c h ~ n gtribute that provides insight into thecharecter and t h e theories of van't off i u d LeBel. some detail.; d t h e rhemirnl wurk of Vera Kstafe\,na Haeda" Upon returning t o St. Petersburg i n 1892, she was a n asnovskaia. sistant t o Dr. M. D. Lvov a t t h e S t . Petersburg Women's News arrived in St. Petemburg that on the eve of April 262 Vera College, a n institution established in 1878 when t h e governEstafevna Bogdanovskaia perished from an explosion in her Izhevsk mentannounced its intention of providing higher education factory laboratory. Vera Estafevna had long been interested in the for women in Russia i n order t o encourage their studying a t analogue of prussic acid in which nitrogen was combined with phosnnmus. and rscentlv all her efforts had been directed toward this. home rather than abroad. After her return to Russia, chemical ~~-~ i ~ u r l n y ~ hnclrk l r III;.u~thnlqqC I C I I I whwh m.rt I W I I:le~~~mrrei n with a young paleontologist and went to study in Germany, thus mind: specifically, she wanted toengage in experiments to obtain the employinga favorite method of escaping the bondage of family and society. phc,sporous analogue of prussic acid. But Graehe dissuaded her from ~
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~d.ahmt Vera E~tarevnaBscdanovrkaiil."J. Rorx Ph.vs r'hwn d r . 29.147:161 lIR911. 141 I W ~ ~ , , V S X ~ . V , l i . , ~ iUihenrylkeLc~nundDihenzylesrb~nol:Chc~m. h~~ R C ~ . .25,1271 118921. 151 Fisrer. L. F.. "The Diswvery ol Synthetic Alirsrin," J. CHEM. EDUC., 7. 2609
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H. l.urhor, Stanfind Ilnivenily. Califirnia:SLanfind University Press, 1916. I71 Cier.T. B.:'HCP.A Unique Ph,,sph~,n!usCornpound.~ J A m r r C h e m S o r . 83.1769 (1961).
