Helen Abbott Michael

Helen Abbott Michael
Born	December 23, 1857 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	November 29, 1904 (1904-11-30) (aged 46) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Resting place	Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Chemist, physician
Spouse	Arthur Michael
Signature

Helen Cecilia De Silver Abbott Michael (December 23, 1857 – November 29, 1904) was an American chemist and a pioneer in phytochemistry. She documented the relationship between chemical composition and plant morphology and proposed a chemical taxonomy for plants. She was the first woman to lecture to students at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. She published several scientific papers and gave lectures to the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting, the Franklin Institute, the Academy of Natural Sciences and the Smithsonian Institution. She received a medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine and transformed her house in Boston into a free hospital for the poor, however she died from influenza contracted from one of her patients. She was married to organic chemist Arthur Michael.