--- description: Emmy Noether is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century. title: Emmy Noether: 100 Women of the Year image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt618cd1494388c7fd/698a0afb011682982697f108/social-1921_Emmy-Noether.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 1921: Emmy Noether Mar 5, 2020 11:32 AM CUT  Illustration by Oliver Sin for TIME; Alamy, Lower Saxony State and University Library Göttingen, Cod. Ms. Hilbert 754, Nr. 73 by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 5, 2020 11:32 AM CUT “Smart” didn’t do Emmy Noether justice: Albert Einstein called her a “creative mathematical genius.” The German-born Noether altered algebra—notably with her 1921 paper _Theory of Ideals in Ring Domains_—and her proofs about conservation of energy resolved a quirk in [Einstein](https://time.com/5551098/mileva-einstein-history/ "undefined")’s general theory of relativity. Even so, as a woman, Noether had to fight for a professorship. When she did get one, at the University of Göttingen, she was [paid minimally,](https://time.com/5766787/women-workforce/ "undefined") and in 1933, with Germany under Nazi rule, she and other Jewish professors were dismissed. Exiled to the U.S., she kept teaching until her death in 1935\. Even now, the world still learns from Noether, whose abstract principles are fundamental to modern particle physics. _—Emily Barone_ --- _This article is part of_ [_100 Women of the Year_](https://time.com/100-women-of-the-year/ "undefined")_, TIME’s list of the most influential women of the past century. Read more_ [_about the project_](https://time.com/5793734/time-100-women-of-the-year-issue/ "undefined")_, explore the_ [_100 covers_](https://time.com/5793732/time-100-women-of-the-year-covers/ "undefined") _and sign up for our_ [_Inside TIME newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/newsletters?newsletter%5Fname=INSIDE%5FTIME&source=article-woy-footer "undefined") _for more._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5792615/emmy-noether-100-women-of-the-year/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5792615/emmy-noether-100-women-of-the-year/"},"headline":"1921: Emmy Noether","datePublished":"2020-03-05T11:32:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T08:19:54.081Z","description":"Emmy Noether is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century.","url":"https://time.com/5792615/emmy-noether-100-women-of-the-year/","keywords":["Women of the Year","Women of the Year - Tech/Athletes"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt618cd1494388c7fd/698a0afb011682982697f108/social-1921_Emmy-Noether.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt618cd1494388c7fd/698a0afb011682982697f108/social-1921_Emmy-Noether.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SOCIAL - Women of the Year: 1921_Emmy-Noether","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5792615/emmy-noether-100-women-of-the-year/","name":"1921: Emmy Noether"}}]}] ```