Tilly Edinger - Infinite Women

Born: 13 November 1897, Germany
Died: 27 May 1967
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Johanna Gabrielle Otellie Edinger

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 Gabrielle Ottilie Edinger, known as “Tilly,” was a prominent Jewish-German-American paleontologist. In 1921, she began her career as a research assistant in paleontology at the University of Frankfurt, holding the position until 1927. From there, she worked in vertebrate paleontology at the Naturmuseum Senckenberg until 1938, publishing “Die Fossilen Gehirne” (Fossil Brains) in 1929, an essential work in paleoneurology.
Edinger’s use of endocasts to study brain cases extensively influenced the field. She drew inspiration from prominent vertebrate paleontologists such as Otto Schindewolf, Louis Dollo, and Friedrich von Huene.
Due to her Jewish heritage, Edinger faced increasing challenges in Nazi Germany after 1933. She continued her work in secret at the Naturmuseum Senckenberg under the protection of the Museum Director, Rudolf Richter. In 1938, she applied for an American visa and later emigrated to London in May 1939, where she worked as a translator. Her American immigration visa was accepted a year later, and she arrived in New York in May 1940, joining the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. Her contributions included “The Evolution of the Horse Brain” in 1948, challenging prevailing evolutionary theories. She also served as a professor at Wellesley College and was president of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in 1963-1964. Some fish species have “Tilly bones,” named in her honor, which are thickened bones on their vertebral columns.