Elsa Beatrice Kidson

Elsa Beatrice Kidson (18 March 1905 – 25 July 1979) was a New Zealand soil scientist and sculptor.

Early life and education Kidson was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 18 March 1905 to Charles Kidson, a sculptor and art teacher at Canterbury College School of Art, and Kitty Esther Kidson née Hounsell, who had some training as a teacher.

Kidson spent two years as a demonstrator for chemistry at Canterbury College, and then worked for the New Zealand Refrigeration Company in Christchurch.

Legacy and honours Kidson was the first woman to be elected Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry, in 1943. A year later she also became the first New Zealand woman to become a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chemistry. She was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 1963.

In 2017, Kidson was selected as one of the Royal Society Te Apārangi's 150 women in 150 words, celebrating the contributions of women to knowledge in New Zealand.

Selected works