Mabel Purefoy FitzGerald
| Mabel Purefoy FitzGerald | |
|---|---|
| Born | 3 August 1872 Preston Candover, Hampshire, England |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Oxford, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Fields | Physiology, pathology |
Mabel Purefoy FitzGerald (3 August 1872 – 24 August 1973)[1] was a British physiologist and clinical pathologist best known for her work on the physiology of respiration. She became the second female member of the American Physiological Society in 1913.[2]
Contents
Early life and education
Mabel FitzGerald was born in 1872 in Preston Candover near Basingstoke. She was educated at home, as was typical for upper and middle class girls in her time. In 1895, both her parents died and Mabel moved to Oxford with her sisters in 1896.[1] She began to teach herself chemistry and biology from books, as well as attending classes at Oxford University between 1896 and 1899, even though women were not yet allowed to receive degrees.[3] She continued her studies at the University of Copenhagen, Cambridge University and New York University.[3]
Work
FitzGerald began to work with Francis Gotch at the physiology department in Oxford. Gotch also helped her get a paper published by the Royal Society in 1906.[3]
From 1904, FitzGerald worked with John Scott Haldane on measuring the carbon dioxide tension in the human lung. After studying the differences between healthy and ill people, the two continued to investigate the effects of altitude on respiration; it is this work that they are most famous for. FitzGerald's observations of the effects of full altitude acclimatization on carbon dioxide tension and haemoglobin remain accepted today.[1]
In 1907, FitzGerald was awarded a Rockefeller travelling scholarship, which allowed her to work in New York and Toronto.[3]
Later life
FitzGerald returned to the UK in 1915 to serve as a clinical pathologist at the Edinburgh infirmary, a position that was empty because of World War I. She did not publish any more papers and remained out of contact with the physiology community even after her return to Oxford in 1930.[3]
In 1961, on the centenary of Haldane's birth, her work was rediscovered. In 1972, at 100 years old, she received an honorary MA from Oxford University, 75 years after she had attended classes there.[4] She was also made a member of The Physiological Society.[1]
Selected publications
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References
External links
- The Mabel FitzGerald Archive, or: An extraordinary woman (3 March 2016) University of Oxford
