ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

Feminism and societal expectations: Paul Ehrenfest, Tatiana Afanassjewa, and the limits of escaping an androcentric physics

• In Event: Recovering the Histories of Women in Quantum Physics 1

English Abstract

In 1912, theoretical physicist Paul Ehrenfest and physicist and mathematician Tatiana Afanassjewa moved from Saint Petersburg to Leiden, where Ehrenfest was set to succeed Hendrik Lorentz as Professor of Theoretical Physics. Afanassjewa left behind her motherland, her job, and a renowned working group on the didactics of mathematics. While Ehrenfest’s career flourished, Afanassjewa’s faltered as she worked and published from home—where their children were also educated—in contrast to the egalitarian ideals expressed in their marriage vows.

Drawing on my research for the double biography of Ehrenfest and Afanassjewa, The Delight of Thinking (Oxford University Press, 2026), and the multi-author volume Women in the History of Quantum Physics (Cambridge University Press, 2025), I will analyse the gender dynamics of this scientific couple, examining the influence of their environments in Russia, the Netherlands, the USA (during Ehrenfest's sabbaticals), and the Soviet Union (during Afanassjewa's extended visits). I will demonstrate that such complex gender dynamics are also evident in Afanassjewa's correspondence with female colleagues, such as Jo van Leeuwen, Hertha Sponer, and Lise Meitner, as well as with former Russian colleagues and teachers, including Nadeschda Gernet, and with male physicists, including Constantin Carathéodory and Hendrik Lorentz. Ultimately, I will emphasise the importance of considering geographical aspects and circumstances, as well as networks, when evaluating women's contributions to physics.

Author

• Margriet van der Heijden, Eindhoven University of Technology