Austria’s Unsung Heroines is dedicated to five of Austria’s great women who received far too little attention for their achievements in the arts and sciences. The series explores what it meant to be a creative and talented woman in Austria during the late-19th and early-20th centuries, looks at the obstacles they had to overcome and highlights the successes of the women featured in their five different fields.

Back then, studying at university was the exception rather than the rule for women, as was the unbiased assessment of their work. The stories of how these five remarkable women managed to excel in environments that were still the preserve of men are often moving and show just how much strength of character, tenacity and self-belief were needed for talented women to accomplish their goals in very challenging circumstances.

Through their irrepressible struggle for self-realisation Tina Blau, Veza Canetti, Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, Hilde Loewe-Flatter and Lise Meitner challenged the prevailing gender norms of the time, whether they intended to or not, and are still role models today.