Elisa Esther Maia Frota-Pessoa

Elisa Esther graduated in 1942, participated in the foundation of the Brazilian

Center for Research in Physics, worked to strengthen the discipline and is
considered one of the first physicists in Brazil.
Born on January 17, 1921, Elisa fell in love with physics and mathematics at
school, which led her to want to become an engineer. Considered a male career
at a time – and a family – when marriage was seen as a sufficient aspiration for
a woman, the project was vetoed. However, against his father's opinion, he
entered the National Faculty of Philosophy (FNFi) in 1940 – which later became
part of the University of Brazil, precursor of the Federal University of Rio de
Janeiro (UFRJ).
Elisa Esther graduated in 1942, participated in the founding of the Brazilian
Center for Research in Physics, worked to strengthen the discipline and is
considered one of the first physicists in Brazil. Her entire career was marked by
a strong dedication to research and teaching, facing the challenges of being a
woman in a masculine world.
He was the author, together with Neusa Margem, of the first research article of
the new institution: “On the disintegration of the positive heavy meson” was
published in 1950 in the journal Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências.
According to her own report in a 2012 interview in the magazine “Cosmos &
Contexto”, the article was accepted in a North American magazine, pending a
change in the text. But she was pressured to speed up the process to give the
Center a publication and contented herself with the local magazine. As a result,
in his assessment, the work no longer had the scope and recognition it should
have.
At CBPF, she coordinated the Nuclear Emulsions Laboratory until 1964, with the
exception of the period she was at University College London, between 1958 and
1959. With the lack of experimental physics laboratories for teaching at FNFi,
Elisa took her students to do an internship in the teaching laboratory created by
physicist Jayme Tiomno, with whom he worked since the time of Costa Ribeiro's
assistant and who became her second husband in 1951 (another challenge to
the norms established for women, when there was no divorce). Bringing students
closer to research helped propel a generation of physicists.
With the military regime, from 1964 onwards, the approximation between the
FNFi and the CBPF was made difficult and in 1965 Elisa and Tiomno moved to
the University of Brasília (UnB), taking their best students, although it did not last
long. That same year, more than 200 professors filed for collective dismissal in
protest against dismissals for political persecution. Elisa worked for a year at
USP, between 1968 and 1969, where she dedicated herself to the study of
nuclear spectroscopy. In 1969, she was retired by AI-5 at FNFi and removed from
CBPF, along with Tiomno, and went to work in Europe and the United States.
With the amnesty, it would be necessary to ask for reinstatement to return to
UFRJ, which he refused to do. In 1980 the couple was readmitted to the CBPF,
where they continued their research and teaching work. Compulsorily retired by
age in 1991, Elisa received the title of Researcher Emeritus of the CBPF and
continued her research until 1995.
Death: 12/28/2018