Cécile Butticaz
A young white woman wearing a white blouse with a high lace collar and pinafore-style ruffles. Her hair is in a large bun at the back of her head.
Cécile Butticaz, from a 1907 publication.
Born2 July 1884
Geneva
Died1 June 1966
Geneva
NationalitySwiss
OccupationEngineer

Cécile Butticaz (2 July 1884, in Geneva – 1 June 1966, in Geneva), also known as Cécile Biéler or Cécile Biéler-Butticaz, was a Swiss engineer. She is considered the first female electrical engineer in Europe, because she earned her engineering diploma in 1907.

Early life

Butticaz was born in 1884, in Geneva, the daughter of Constant Butticaz and Eugénie Mercanton Butticaz. Her father was a factory director.[1]

Butticaz studied at the University of Geneva and then at EPFL a prestigious Swiss engineering university, from which she was also first female graduate.[2] She earned a diploma in electrical engineering in 1907, the first woman to do so in Europe.[1][3] She earned a doctorate in physics from the University of Geneva, in 1929, after conducting original research on invar, a nickel-iron alloy with industrial applications.[4]

Career

Butticaz worked as an engineer in Geneva after she gained her diploma.[5] She also taught mathematics in Geneva and Lausanne.[1] She wrote and published several books of poetry in French.[6][7][8][9] She also wrote on social matters, in Foyer moderne (1935).[10]

Butticaz is sometimes described as the first woman engineer in Europe, but there are several women with claims to that "first". Among earlier contenders, Rita de Morais Sarmento earned an engineering degree in Portugal in 1896,[11] and Alice Perry earned her engineering degree in Ireland in 1905.[12]

A street sign marking Rue Cécile Biéler-Butticaz.
A street sign marking Rue Cécile-Biéler-Butticaz.

Personal life and legacy

Butticaz was a Soroptimist, active in founding the Lausanne chapter of the club.[13] She used the names Cécile Biéler or Cécile Biéler-Butticaz after her marriage to Alfred Édouard François Biéler. They had three sons, born in the 1910s. She died in 1966, in Geneva, aged 81 years. Her grave is in Cully.
In 2019, due to the efforts of the 100Elles project,[14] a street in Geneva was proposed for a rename as "Rue Cécile-Biéler-Butticaz", after the city's notable native engineer.[13][15]

References

  1. 1 2 3 E. D. (21 August 1907). "Une femme ingénieur-électricien". La Patrie Suisse. 14: 201.
  2. ↑ "Young Woman is an Engineer". The Pittsburgh Press. 1905-12-03. p. 31. Retrieved 2020-05-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "The First Lady Engineer". The Bystander. 8: 324. November 15, 1905.
  4. ↑ Bieler-Butticaz, Cécile (1929). Recherches sur l'influence de l'écrouissage et du recuit sur quelques propriétés mécaniques et magnétiques de minces fils d'Invar en fonction de la température (Thesis) (in French). OCLC 55956992.
  5. ↑ "Swiss Woman an Engineer". Herald and Review. 1906-02-16. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-05-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ Bieler-Butticaz, Cécile; Cramer, Rie (1930). Eté (in French). OCLC 1035580533.
  7. ↑ Bieler-Butticaz, Cécile (1922). Hiver (in French). OCLC 995139953.
  8. ↑ Bieler-Butticaz, Cécile (1922). Printemps (in French). Lausanne; Genève: Payot. OCLC 714996774.
  9. ↑ Bieler-Butticaz, Cécile (1922). Automne (in French). Lausanne; Genève: Payot. OCLC 714996724.
  10. ↑ Biéler-Butticaz, Cécile (1935). Foyer moderne (in French). Éditions La Concorde.
  11. ↑ Hernández, Hortensia. "Rita de Morais Sarmento primera Ingeniera Civil en Portugal y en Europa". Heroínas. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  12. ↑ Hassett, Ella (8 May 2015). "Alice Perry: The first female Engineering graduate in Ireland". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  13. 1 2 Muller, Sylvain (2020-05-03). "Genève veut offrir une rue à une "Lausannoise"". 24Heures (in French). ISSN 1424-4039. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  14. ↑ "Cécile BIÉLER-BUTTICAZ". 100 Elles* (in Swiss French). Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  15. ↑ "Change to street names in the City of Geneva". Ville de Genève. 20 February 2020. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
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