There are a lot of women online who have proclaimed themselves “vodka girls,” as vodka is their alcohol of choice on a night out. There are a lot of “vodka girls” out there who can’t imagine a Friday night celebration without ordering a vodka-cranberry or sipping on an ice-cold dirty martini.
But do you know who we could consider the original “vodka girl?” The fascinating woman scientist whose scientific discoveries and experiments paved the way for vodka distillation?
That scientist was Eva Ekeblad, whose one of many scientific accomplishments was creating the efficient process that made flour and vodka from potatoes.
Eva was born in Sweden in 1724. She was born into aristocracy, as she was the daughter of a statesman who hosted influential political salons. When she was 16, Eva married politician Count Claes Claesson Ekeblad, and they had seven children throughout their marriage.
Since her husband often had to travel, Eva was left to manage and take care of their land and home, which sparked an interest in science and agriculture. She became an agronomist by the time she was in her 20s, learning about crop production and soil.
In the mid-1740s, Eva began conducting experiments with potatoes, which had only been introduced to Sweden in 1658 and was mostly given to animals. Through her experiments, Eva figured out how to extract the starch from potatoes to create flour and alcohol, which led to the country’s love of potato-based vodka.
Eva’s discoveries were a very big deal; they changed Sweden’s culinary culture and helped the country solve its food crises. Because potatoes were now being frequently used to make alcohol instead of wheat, rye, and barley, those grains could be used to make more bread and feed the hungry.
While Eva wasn’t the first person to make alcohol from potatoes, her method was much more efficient and strongly aided her country.
Not long after conducting her remarkable experiments, Eva became the first woman scientist to be inducted into the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1748 when she was only 24 years old.
Unfortunately, three years later, she was downgraded to an honorary member because of her gender, but still impressively remained the only female inductee for 200 years.
In the 1750s, Eva’s research with potatoes led her to create a special soap that could bleach several textiles, including cotton, and she realized that potato starch could be used to replace toxic arsenic in face powders used by those in high society.
After her husband died in 1771, Eva spent many of her later years as a faithful member of the royal court in Stockholm. One of her several roles included lady in waiting to Queen Sophia Magdalena.
She eventually fell ill and passed away in 1786 at 61. Her accomplishments inspired a lot of culinary practices that exist today, and she was a very fascinating woman in history.
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