Biography Wachenheim
After studying chemistry for her doctorate in Heidelberg and completing a research stay in Hanover, Lili Wachenheim joined BASF in 1918 as its first female chemist. However, she left the company later that same year after getting married. All trace of her is lost when she emigrated to the USA with her family in the 1930s.
Lili Wachenheim was born in Mannheim on 23 April 1893. She studied chemistry at the University of Heidelberg and was awarded her doctorate in 1916 for her thesis “On the decomposition weight of nitrosyl chloride”. After a period as an assistant to Max Bodenstein (1871–1942) at the Electrochemical Institute of the Technical University of Hanover, she was hired by BASF on 2 January 1918 as its first female chemist. She worked in the ammonia laboratory, which was headed by Alwin Mittasch (1869–1953). Mittasch was a chemist of Sorbian origin, best known for his groundbreaking work on catalyst development for ammonia synthesis using the Haber–Bosch process.
Wachenheim’s first research report was entitled “On the action of nitrogen dioxide on water and nitric acid at various concentrations” and dated 11 March 1918. Two further research reports followed. At the end of 1918, Wachenheim left the company after marrying the chemist Heinrich Müller. The social consensus at the time was that a career was incompatible with a woman’s role as wife and mother. The family emigrated to the USA in the 1930s. Unfortunately, no information is available about Lili Wachenheim’s subsequent life and career. Lili Wachenheim died in the USA on 12 May 1989.
(Biography amended to include date and source of death by K. J. Schmitz)
Literature
BASF SE: Die Anilinerinnen, brochure, Ludwigshafen, 2017
Geni.com: Lili Wachenheim Mueller
UPDATE
A further article about Lilly Wachenheim appeared in Nachr. Chem. 70, July/August 2022, p. 22. The author is Gisela Boeck, Deputy Chair of the GDCh Division of History of Chemistry. Read the article in the GDCh app.
The GDCh Division of History of Chemistry published a biographical sketch of the chemist in Mitteilungen der Fachgruppe online, Volume 27 / 2023.
Authors
Prof. Dr. Eberhard Ehlers
Prof. Dr. Heribert Offermanns
Editorial processing
Dr. Uta Neubauer
Project management
Dr. Karin J. Schmitz (GDCh-public relations)
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