Nedda Friberti (born 13 September 1913, date of death unknown) was an Italian Jewish mathematician who fled Italy as a result of the German occupation of the Italian Socialist Republic during World War II.[1][2] She was denied entry into the United States by the Emergency Committee in Aid of Displaced Foreign Scholars.[3] In 1939, she was able to flee to Switzerland to escape persecution.[4]

Nedda Friberti
Born(1913-09-13)13 September 1913
Trieste, Italy
NationalityItalian
Known forJewish refugee during WWII fleeing Nazi occupation of Italy
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics

Biography edit

Friberti was born in Trieste in 1913.[2] She received a double degree in Mathematics and Physics. She worked as an assistant professor of Mathematics and Geometry at the Technical Institute Leonardo da Vinci in 1937.[5][6]

Before teaching mathematics Friberti worked at the Geophysical Institute of the Royal Italian Talassografic Committee (Council of Italy).

In 1939 Friberti applied for migration into the United States by submitting an application for the Emergency Committee in Aid of Displaced Foreign Scholars.[7] Thousands of scholars, including 80 female scientists and mathematicians, applied to this committee during the second World War.[7] Friberti's application was denied by the committee because it was deemed that she would not have an easy time finding a new job in the United States.[5]

Ultimately, Friberti escaped to Switzerland.[8]

References edit

  1. ^ "Holocaust Survivors and Victims Database – Search for Names Results". www.ushmm.org. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  2. ^ a b Broggini, Renata (2003). Frontier of Hope: Jews from Italy Seek Refuge in Switzerland 1943–1945. Ulrico Hoepli. ISBN 978-88-203-3267-9.
  3. ^ Gissi, Alessandra (26 May 2016), Luconi, Stefano; Varricchio, Mario (eds.), "Migranti, esiliate o rifugiate? : Le italiane nell'«intellectual wave» (Italia-Stati Uniti, 1938–1943)", Lontane da casa : Donne italiane e diaspora globale dall'inizio del Novecento a oggi, Centro Altreitalie sulle Migrazioni Italiane (in Italian), Torino: Accademia University Press, pp. 97–113, ISBN 978-88-99200-09-1, retrieved 18 June 2023
  4. ^ Boissoneault, Lorraine (9 November 2017). "The Forgotten Women Scientists Who Fled the Holocaust for the United States". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  5. ^ a b Gissi, Alessandra. "«I should like very much to settle down in the US...». Italian women in the «intellectual wave» (1938–1943) in C. de la Guardia Herrero, E. Postigo Castellanos (eds.), Moving women and the United States: crossing the Atlantic". Publicaciones de la Universidad de Alcalá. 2016 (Alcalá): 63–78.
  6. ^ Bini, Gilberto (5 May 2023). Algebraic Geometry between Tradition and Future: An Italian Perspective. Springer Nature. ISBN 978-981-19-8281-1.
  7. ^ a b "Rediscovering the Refugee Scholars of the Nazi Era". Northeastern University. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  8. ^ sheldon, Natasha (6 February 2018). "The Scientists History Abandoned: The Cruel Reality of Being a Scholarly Woman or Refugee Fleeing the Holocaust to America". History Collection. Retrieved 18 June 2023.