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The oldest PhD student in the world (aged 102)

— by Alyson Walsh

Ingeborg Rapoport-germany-nazi-doctorate-11a_f2c28b2e9643af3f258f40864554b9b1.nbcnews-ux-2880-1000

Photo: NBC News

I heard the most incredible story on the radio, yesterday. At 102, Ingeborg Rapoport is the oldest person in the world to be awarded a PhD  – she was talking about her experience to one of my favourite broadcast journalists, Eddie Mair. As a student in Nazi Germany, Rapoport (née Syllm) submitted her thesis in 1938 but was not allowed to attend the final oral exam and complete her studies because her mother was Jewish.

Rapoport emigrated to America, finished her studies and met her husband working at a hospital in Cincinnati. The couple moved to Berlin in 1952, where Ingeborg – now a mother of four – became head of the neonatology department at the Charité University Hospital.

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Photo: WSJ

The current dean of the University of Hamburg heard Rapoport’s story and, nearly 80-years later, began proceedings to allow her to complete the German doctorate she’d been denied. Nearly blind, the 102-year-old’s studies were aided by friends, family and ‘Google.’ Tutors from the university then travelled to Ingeborg’s home in East Berlin to carry out the final test in her living room. She was awarded her PhD in June. The oldest student in the world told the Wall Street Journal:

‘I have never felt bitterness. I’ve been shockingly lucky in all this. For me it all came out well: I had my best teachers in the U.S., I found my husband, I had my children.’

‘It was about the principle. I didn’t want to defend my thesis for my own sake. After all, at the age of 102, all of this wasn’t exactly easy for me. I did it for the victims [of the Nazis].’

What an amazing woman. As Eddie Mair said: file this under you’re never too old…

Listen to the BBC radio interview HERE (at approx 51.47mins) and there’s a WSJ feature HERE.

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I heard the most incredible story on the radio, yesterday. At 102, Ingeborg Rapoport is the oldest person in the world to be awarded a PhD  – she was talking about her experience to one of my f…