Satina, Sophia, 1879-1975

Sophie Satin (Sophia Satina) was born on April 17, 1879 in Tambov, Russia, a town just south of Moscow. Satin, an ardent advocate for women's education during the Tsarist regime, was a graduate of the first class to matriculate at the Women's University in Moscow. She continued to be involved with the University, becoming an assistant professor in the Department of Botany, a position she held until her departure from Russia in 1921. Prior to her emigration, Satin and a few of her colleagues opened a botanical museum in Moscow that was free to the public. The museum was active until the Bolsheviks staged a revolution in 1917. Satin, an activist and feminist, fled to the United States in response to the new regime and began researching at the Carnegie Research Laboratories in Cold Springs Harbor, New York. In 1943, Satin acquired a position at Smith College working under famed Geneticist Albert Blakeslee as a research assistant in the Genetics Experimental Station (G.E.S.). While Satin did not hold a Ph.D., she became a visiting associate professor of Botany, and assistant director of the G.E.S. She worked at the college until her retirement in 1955. Through her work, Satin helped lay the foundations for growing the fungus penicillium, and in 1944 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Science from Smith College. Satin died on February 24, 1975 in New York City.

From the guide to the Sophia Satina Papers RG 42., 1922-1978, (Smith College Archives)

Satina was educated at the Women's College, Moscow University and taught there until the 1920s when she emigrated to the United States. She worked at the Carnegie Institute of Washington, Dept. of Genetics and for the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture and elsewhere before coming to Smith College in 1942. She was the assistant director of Smith's Genetics Experiment Station, 1942-1966.

From the description of Sophie Satina papers, ca. 1900-1976. (Smith College). WorldCat record id: 52851129