Elisabeth Wollman

Elisabeth Wollman (née Michelis; 15 August 1888 – 22 December 1943) was a microbiologist at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. Born in Minsk in a Jewish family, she graduated from the University of Liège with a degree in physics and mathematics. She married the son of family friends, Eugène Wollman, and moved with him to Paris, where he began his career at the Pasteur Institute. Pioneers in the field of molecular genetics, the Wollmans collaborated for two decades on work that lay critical groundwork for understanding viruses, cancer, and HIV.

In December 1943, the couple were deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where they died soon after arrival, presumably murdered in gas chambers. A former student, André Lwoff, continued their work after the war, leading to a Nobel Prize in 1965. Their son, Élie Wollman, was part of the team. He and his son, Francis-André Wollman, both had prominent careers in science. One of the Wollman's daughters, Nadine Marty, became a professor of physics, and the other, Alice, became a medical doctor. Elisabeth, Eugène, and Élie Wollman are memorialized for their contributions to biology by a plaque at the Pasteur Institute.