Hungary: Eszter Pécsi

Born in 1898 in Kecskemét, Hungary, Eszter Pécsi was the first Hungarian woman to hold a diploma in architecture. She began her education studying engineering at the Technische-Hochschule in Berlin-Charlottenburg (1915–1919). She transferred to the Budapest University of Technology in Budapest, Hungary when women were permitted to enroll, and graduated with a diploma in architecture (1920). After graduation, Pécsi worked as a senior designer for Guth and Gergely, an engineering firm (c. 1920–1930), and then co-founded an architectural firm with her husband, József Fischer (c. 1931–1948). Later in her career, she was employed by the Design Office of the Ministry of Metallurgy and Engineering, where she was promoted to the role of chief engineer (c. 1949–1957). She briefly relocated to Vienna, Austria, for a year (1957) before moving to New York (c. 1958), where she continued to work as a structural engineer for private firms, and was a lecturer at New York University (1959–1970). Pécsi was a member of Congrès internationaux d’architecture moderne (CIAM), and was recognized as the “Best Structural Engineer of the Year” in the U.S. for innovating foundation techniques that support high-rise buildings (1965). Pécsi died in 1975 in New York City.