Suzanne Veil

Suzanne Zélie Pauline Veil (28 April 1886 – 24 February 1956) was a French chemical engineer and translator. She is known for her research and her work during World War I training nurses in radiology methods to locate shrapnel in the bodies of wounded soldiers. In 2026, Veil was announced by the Mayor of Paris as one of 72 women in STEM whose careers were to be recognised through addition of their names to Eiffel Tower.

Early life and education Suzanne Zélie Pauline Veil was born in Paris on 28 April 1886. Her studies was interrupted by the outbreak of WWI. Initially, Veil contributed to the war effort through military telegraphy under General Gustave-Auguste Ferrié but, by 1916, she was working alongside Marie Curie to train nurses in radiology methods, ensuring effective radiology services near the front line. This enabled the nurses to locate shrapnel in the bodies of wounded soldiers.

After completing her studies at Marie Curie's Radium Institute, Veil went on to undertake her doctorate with chemist Georges Urbain at the Sorbonne's École Supérieure de Chimie, successfully defending her thesis on the properties of metallic oxides in 1920.

More than a century later, in 2026, Veil was announced as one of 72 historical women in STEM whose names have been proposed to be added to the 72 men already celebrated on the Eiffel Tower. The plan was announced by the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo following the recommendations of a committee led by Isabelle Vauglin of Femmes et Sciences and Jean-François Martins, representing the operating company which runs the Eiffel Tower. (translated as Les Isotopes by Suzanne Z. Veil, preface by Georges Urbain), Paris, J. Hermann, (1923) (BNF 31736929) Mme R. Duval, Mlle S. Veil et MM. C. Eichner, P. Job, V. Lombard, Nickel, chrome, cobalt, étude générale des complexes, (Nickel, chrome, cobalt, general study of complexes) (1933) Les Phénomènes périodiques de la chimie, (Periodic phenomena in chemistry) (1934) Manuel de radiologie industrielle (Handbook of industrial radiology) (1948) Personal life Suzanne Veil died in Paris on 24 February 1956, aged 70.