Biography

Lise Meitner

Portrait of Lise Meitner, Austrian physicist
An Austrian physicist and co-discoverer of nuclear fission (1938). She reflects both her passion for science and the struggle against the invisibility of women in science.

Childhood (1878–1896)

She was born in Vienna into a Jewish family and quickly developed a passion for science.

Young Lise Meitner

Studies (1896–1907)

She studied physics at the University of Vienna, where she earned her doctorate in theoretical physics, becoming one of the first women in this field at that time.

University of Vienna

Scientific Career (1907–1938)

She worked with Otto Hahn in Berlin, contributing to major discoveries in radioactivity and the identification of Protactinium2.

Lise Meitner in the laboratory

Escape and Exile (1938–1945)

Being Jewish, she had to flee Nazi Germany and settle in Sweden, but she continued her research.

Lise Meitner in exile

Contribution to Nuclear Fission (1939)

In collaboration with Otto Frisch in Stockholm, she interpreted the experimental results of uranium4 fission, paving the way for the modern theory of nuclear fission3.

Nuclear fission diagram

Final Years and Legacy (1945–1968)

She continued to publish and teach, becoming a symbol of recognition and hope for women in science.

Lise Meitner in her final years