In League of Nations days, scientists who visited Geneva knew her as a plump, black-eyed Russian physiologist named Lina Stern. She loved to putter in her laboratory all day and dance all night. A brilliant scientist, Lina was already a full professor (of physiological chemistry) at the University of Geneva. Friend of many a globe-trotting academician, she spoke fluent Russian, French and English. In 1925, fun-loving Physiologist Stern decided to go to Moscow, where, she said, she could pursue science in "a society built on scientific principles."
Last week Dr. Lina Stern was...