Yona Siderer

Hebrew University, Israel

Title: Kuroda Chika (1884-1968) - Pioneer Woman Chemist in Twentieth Century Japan

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Biography

Kuroda Chika was one of the first two women to study chemistry in Japan, at Tohoku Imperial University in Sendai City in 1913. Though the Ministry of Education criticized the University for letting women start their education there, she graduated from Tohoku University in 1916.  Chika Kuroda's scientific work includes the isolation, crystallization and characterization of natural dyes extracted mainly from plants that were used for fabric dyeing and for medicinal purposes.  In 1918 she was the first woman to present, and subsequently publish, the results of her research "About the Pigment of Purple Root" before the Tokyo (later Japan) Chemical Society assembly. Her research continued at Oxford University (1921-1923). Her scientific approach included a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of organic chemistry reactions, applying methods of both analysis and synthesis. She collaborated with several colleagues at RIKEN, the Physical and Chemical Research Institute that was located in Komagome in northern Tokyo since its establishment in 1917 until after World War II.   

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