Geologist who was active campaigner for women's rights

Number 14: Dame Maria Ogilvie Gordon

MARIA Ogilvie Gordon was not only a noted geologist but one of the leading lights of the women's rights movement.

Born in Monymusk, Aberdeenshire, on 30 April, 1864, Maria Matilda Ogilvie was the daughter of the Rev Alexander Ogilvie, the local schoolmaster, and Maria Matilda Nicol.

Her father became the headmaster at Robert Gordon's Hospital (which later became a college) in 1872 and the family moved to Aberdeen.

Edinburgh Educational Institute for Girls supplied nine years of schooling for Maria before she began her studies at the Royal Academy of Music, in London. She later went on to study at Heriot-Watt College in Edinburgh and then University College in London, from where she graduated in 1890 as a Bachelor of Science. Maria excelled at her studies and was awarded a gold medal in zoology and comparative anatomy with her degree.

Further studies beckoned and she enrolled at Munich University as a private student, under Karl von Zittel, a palaeontologist, and the zoologist Richard Hertwig.

Her academic work brought about a number of firsts, with her Doctor of Science degree, from UCL in 1893, being the first in geology to be given to a woman. In 1900, she became the first woman to be awarded a PhD from Munich University, with distinction in geology, palaeontology and zoology.

It was in Germany that Maria carried out her key geological studies of the Tyrol Dolomites, which, at the time, were a remote and isolated region. She began by studying recent and fossil corals but her work developed to include movements in the Earth's crust.

Her 1899 paper used the new theories of plate tectonics to explain that the region's steep-sided limestone features were the result of the Earth crust moving and were not unchanged coral reefs, as was previously thought.

Maria published more than 30 scientific papers during her lifetime and her 1927 book became the leading reference text for future work in the Tyrol Dolomites.

Her translation of Karl von Zittel's book A History of Geology and Palaeontology in 1901 was seen as a great contribution to the field. The Geographical Society recognised her outstanding work by awarding her its Lyell medal in 1932.

Maria married John Gordon, a physician from Aberdeen, in 1895 and they raised three children together. Family life did not stand in Maria's way and she carried on with her unpaid fieldwork.

It was after her husband's death in 1919 that Maria moved to London and became active in the Liberal Party. She was the first woman to chair a London borough court and was heavily involved in several leading women's action groups. Maria was president of meetings of the National Council of Women in 1914 and, in 1917, the Women's Citizens Association.

She also played a role internationally, working with the International Council of Women and visiting women's groups in Australia.

For her services to the women's rights movement, Maria was made a Dame in 1935. The honour rewarded the sacrifices she had made in giving up her career as a scientist. Maria fondly remembered her time working in the field and said they were they happiest days of her life.

She was described by her biographer as being "probably the most productive woman field geologist of any country in the late 19th and early 20th centuries".

She was also noted for her enthusiasm, observational skills and intuitive grasp of geology.

Dame Maria died at her home in Regent's Park, London, on 24 June, 1939. Her ashes were placed in Allenvale cemetery in Aberdeen.