Anna Volkova

Year of birth unknown; died 1876. Russian chemist; the first woman in the world to publish studies in chemistry.

In 1869, Volkova began working in the laboratory of the Russian scientist A. N. Engel’gardt. Under the direction of D. I. Mendeleev she gave practical lessons for the girl students in the St. Petersburg public schools. In 1870 she was the first to produce orthotoluenesulfonic acid and its acid chloride and amide in pure form. Volkova was the first to obtain paratricresol phosphate, a component of a now-important plasticizer, from paracresol.