Marianne Plehn (30 October 1863 – 18 January 1946) was a German zoologist. She was the first woman to be awarded a doctorate at the ETH Zurich and the first woman to be appointed as professor in Bavaria in 1914. Plehn is commemorated in the names of three polyclads and 12 disease agents of fishes. The breadth of her research on diseases of fishes defined the scientific study in this area. She published 114 scientific papers on the subject. She worked with Bruno Hofer and has been honoured as one of the founders of fish pathology.
Early life Plehn was born 1863 in Lubochen, then part of west Prussia. She had five siblings and her father was a manor lord. Her older brothers studied medicine. Aged 27 Plehn moved to Zurich to take up university education in zoology, botany and geology. With financial support from her uncle she studied at the ETH Zurich, where she passed the examination as instructor for natural science in 1893. In 1896 she received her PhD in zoology, making her the first woman awarded a doctorate by the ETH Zurich. Natural science was part of the philosophy department of the University of Zurich and while preparing for her doctorate she met and formed a lifelong friendship with Ricarda Huch, with whom she continued to exchange letters.
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