Born: 6 June 1898, Austria
Died: 28 September 1992
Country most active: Austria
Also known as: Hansi
The following bio was written by Emma Rosen, author of On This Day She Made History: 366 Days With Women Who Shaped the World and This Day In Human Ingenuity & Discovery: 366 Days of Scientific Milestones with Women in the Spotlight, and has been republished with permission.
Johanna Camilla Piesch was a daughter of cavalry officer Oswald Piesch and was raised in Vienna. Piesch pursued physics at the University of Vienna, where she obtained her doctorate in 1921. Additionally, she earned teaching qualifications in mathematics and physics in 1928.
In 1928, Piesch joined the Post and Telegraph Service (Post- und Telegraphenverwaltung), but she faced early retirement in 1938 due to the Nazi regime. Following her departure from her post in 1938, Piesch relocated to Berlin and began her pioneering work in switching algebra. This is evident in her 1939 publications on Boolean algebra, marking her as the first individual to explore its practical applications. Her contributions laid the groundwork for Austrian mathematicians Adalbert Duschek and Otto Plechl, who later expanded on the field of switching algebra. Notably, her second publication introduced a noteworthy simplification method.
In July 1945, she returned to work, leading the PTT’s laboratory. By February 1956, she transitioned to the Technical University’s Documentation Center Library for Technology and Science, ultimately retiring in October 1962.
In her later years, spanning the last three decades of her life, Piesch dedicated herself to social work. Her significant contributions are widely acknowledged for their impact on the development of computer science.