Esther had a talent for languages. Esther's teachers (both in High School as well as at Hunter College) felt that with her talents with languages, her future was assured. Given the gender discrimination that existed, choosing to study languages was one of the few avenues open to educated women at that time. Esther headed the French Club, starting a French newspaper. Esther won medals due to her expertise in French. Similarly, Esther had great talent with Spanish. Indeed, Esther's college language department professors were quite upset when Esther chose to study science instead of languages! Later in life, Esther learned both the Japanese as well as the Russian languages. Studying at the Hopkins Marine Station under C. B. van Niel, Esther had to read scientific papers written in Dutch.
© Copyright 2006 - 2018
The Esther M. Zimmer Lederberg Trust
Website Terms of Use