Evelyna Bloem Souto
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Evelyna Bloem Souto | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1926 |
| Died | 11 August 2017 (aged 90–91) |
| Occupation(s) | Civil engineer, academic |
Evelyna Bloem Souto (1926 – 11 August 2017) was the only woman in the first class of the civil engineering course at the University of São Paulo in São Carlos, Brazil. She overcame considerable prejudice against women in engineering to build a successful academic career.[1]
Evelyna Bloem Souto was born in 1926, in São Paulo.[2] Her interest in civil engineering emerged during her childhood. Her father, Theodoreto de Arruda Souto, was the first director of the Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos da Universidade de São Paulo (EESC) (School of Engineering at the University of São Paulo) between 1952 and 1967. When her father met with friends, the young Evelyna would listen with interest to their conversations about engineering.
Education
Bloem Souto started her undergraduate studies at Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo. In 1957, her third year of college, she transferred her course to University of São Paulo at São Carlos.[3][1]
Whilst studying through a scholarship in France, she was made to dress as a man, wear galoshes, pin back her hair and draw a beard and moustache on her face so that she would be allowed on the work site of a tunnel alongside 10 male students. She agreed to participate as she really wanted to inspect the project, expecting to work on tunnels back in Brazil.[1][4]