COBRAS CRIADAS – MULHERES NAS CIÊNCIAS: O PIONEIRISMO DE MARIE PHISALIX (1861-1946) NA PESQUISA, NO ENSINO E NA DIVULGAÇÃO CIENTÍFICA SOBRE ANIMAIS PEÇONHENTOS

Abstract

The research presents a biographical study on the French professor, doctor, scientist and feminist, Marie Phisalix (1861-1946), focusing on the processes of legitimation, controversies and consensus, highlighting her main work, the Book Animaux Venimeux et Venins (Poisonous Animals and Poisons), from 1922. We study this Book as a unique historical object through an original copy, which crossed the Atlantic and belonged to Professor Eduardo Lins Ferreira de Araújo (1890-1970), from the Faculty of Medicine, until it was deposited in 1988, in the library of the Center for Ophiology and Venomous Animals of Bahia at the Institute of Biology at the Federal University of Bahia. It was conducted through the triangulation of qualitative methods (biographical study, documentary analysis and online and field research), totaling five digital and fifteen in-person collections, consulted between 23/01 and 14/02/2023, traveling through the cities of Besançon, Roscoff, Paris, Burg-en-Bresse and Mouthier-Houte-Pierre. Marie Phisalix was born in Besançon (1861), into a wealthy family, which allowed her a differentiated education and the construction of a solid scientific base. She studied at the École Normale Supérieure de Sèvres in Paris (1882-1884) and at the Lycée de Jeunes Filles in Besançon (1885), where she obtained the title of Professor (Sciences). In 1888 she was appointed Professor in Cambrai, then in Bourg-en-Bresse and Besançon (the city where she began her studies in Medicine) and was a student of Césaire Phisalix (1852-1906), whom she married in 1895. They met at the Station Roscoff's Biologique, when Césaire Phisalix was recovering from the after effects of a war battle in Tunisia (1881). In 1894, Césaire Phisalix was recognized as one of the discoverers of antivenom serum therapy, together with Bertrand (1867-1962) and Calmette (1863-1933). In 1900, Marie Phisalix obtained her doctorate in medicine at the Faculté de Médecine in Paris, with the Thesis Recherches histologiques et physiologiques sur les glandes à venin de la salamandre terrestrial, awarded a Silver Medal for the excellence of her work. The Phisalix couple carried out research on poisonous animals, venoms, poisonings and poison therapy at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris until his death in 1906. Marie Phisalix remained at this Museum until her death (1946), where she built a solid career, with the publication of four books, around 275 articles and dozens of scientific popularization articles in various French media outlets at the time. In honor of Césaire Phisalix, Marie Phisalix created the École Césaire Phisalix and the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle in Mouthier-Houte Pierre, in 1907, today the Musée Phisalix d'Histoire Naturelle, with a rich collection. Marie Phisalix was interested in snakes from an early age, she faced all the challenges of a woman scientist of her time, wife of a famous scientist, risking her life, victim of four accidents for her fascinating snakes: no one dares to go in to see the latest exotic species of the Jardin des Plantes that have withstood the last five winters of war in Paris. The only person who goes every day to meet... with the vipers is her, a small woman, 85 years old, short hair, lively eyes... and who has 50 years of intimacy with these classified species as disgusting and dangerous (Journal Ambiance, 1945).