100 years ago, on August 29, 1921, Elise Richter was the first woman in Austria to receive the title of extraordinary university professor (tit. ao. Prof.).
In 1897 Richter was one of the first women to enroll in Romance studies, linguistics, classical philology and German studies at the University of Vienna and received her doctorate in 1901. She was the first woman to receive her habilitation at the University of Vienna in 1905 and in 1907 was given the license to teach Romance philology as well as an unpaid lectureship. As "tit. ao." professor she was appointed professor for Romance linguistics, literature and phonetics in 1921 and from 1928 headed the Phonetic Institute at the University of Vienna. However, she was denied the title of full professor (o. Prof.).
