Sara Rietti

Sara Rietti (Buenos Aires, 3 December 1930 – Buenos Aires, 28 May 2017), also known as Sara Bartfeld de Rietti, was the first nuclear chemist from Argentina. She was Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Science and Technology during the government of President Raúl Alfonsín.

Life and work Education Rietti began studying chemistry in 1948 after she had finished her secondary education, graduating in 1954 with her degree in nuclear chemistry. She took her last course at the National Atomic Energy Commission in 1953, a fact that by chance allowed her to be the first nuclear chemist in Argentina. Her thesis was titled Study of the reaction between diboron tetrachloride and diborane. Boranes are chemical compounds known as boron hydrides. These materials cannot receive air or humidity. Because they have to always remain cold, she had to constantly monitor her compounds, including on weekends when she went to her laboratory with her children. In 1963, she finally obtained her doctorate from UBA.

Research career

Rietti worked as a researcher at various Argentine universities and state agencies including the Department of Inorganic Chemistry and Physicochemistry at the University of Buenos Aires between 1955 and 1956. She was also a member of the board of directors of the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), where she witnessed the country's security forces breaking into the university during the events known as the Night of the Long Canes on 29 July 1966. On 4 November 2011, the National University of Rosario awarded her an honorary doctorate. In 2022, Rietti was one of eleven women scientists honored in the renamed Hall of Argentine Science, which is located in the Government House, first floor.