Lina Stern
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Lina Solomonovna Stern (Russian: Лина Соломоновна Штерн) (1878-1968) was a notable biochemist, physiologist and activist whose medical discoveries saved thousands of lives at the fronts of World War II.
Born in Liepaja, Latvia into a Jewish family and educated in Geneva, Switzerland, she pursued a brilliant academic career and performed original research in biochemistry and in the neurosciences. From 1918 onwards she was the first woman awarded professional rank at the University of Geneva, being a Professor of chemio-physiology, and researching cellular oxidation.
In 1925 she had emigrated to the Soviet Union out of ideological convictions. In 1925-1948 she was a Professor of the 2nd Medical Institute and in 1929-1948 — the Director of Institute of Physiology of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In 1939 she became the first female full member of the Academy. In 1943 she won the Stalin Award.
A member of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (JAC) since 1942, Stern was the sole survivor out of fifteen arrested (one person died in prison, thirteen were executed) when the JAC was eradicated by Stalin in January 1949. She was sentenced to a prison term, followed by five-year exile to Dzhambul (current Taraz), Kazakhstan.
After Stalin's death in 1953 she was allowed to return to Moscow and in 1954-1968 she headed the Department of Physiology at Biophysics Institute.
Lina Shtern is best-known for her pioneering work on blood-brain barrier, which she described as hemato-encephalic barrier in 1921 [1].
