Woman of the Day agricultural inventor Eva Ekeblad, born OTD 1724 in Sweden, discovered how to make flour from potatoes during a European-wide famine crisis in the 1740s caused by severe winters and crop failures. She was the first woman to become a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Wasn’t the humble spud always a food source once the first one was brought over to us in 1586? Well, yes and no. South Americans used different variants to produce healthy crops but Europeans had only one sort so it was vulnerable to pests and parasites. In any case, it was viewed with suspicion - the potato is a member of the deadly nightshade family - so it was only regarded as fit for livestock to eat, and perhaps poor people at a pinch. In France, the potato was even banned for human consumption because of a widespread belief that it caused leprosy. Eva, born to an aristocratic family, was married at 16. Her dowry consisted of two castles and her husband owned a manor estate as well as property in Stockholm. He was often absent on privy councillor duties so she got on with extensive hostess duties, bearing eight children and managing three large estates. By all accounts, she ran a tight ship and wasn’t afraid to argue with the estate bailiffs, quoting the law at them. By the time she was 22, Eva had discovered a way to cook, crush and dry potatoes to make a starchy type of flour. Her work couldn’t have been more timely. Large areas of Europe were badly affected by famines. She summarised her experiments in an essay entitled ‘Försök att tillverka bröd, brännvin, stärkelse och puder af potater’ (Attempts at producing bread, spirit, starch and powder from potatoes) and submitted it to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. She described in some detail how to extract potato starch and turn it into a usable flour similar in texture to wheat flour by grinding and sifting it, and how to make alcohol from potatoes. She included a recipe she developed for making bread with oat flour mixed with mashed potatoes. On 3 December 1748, Eva became the first woman elected as a member. The Academy sent her a letter of thanks on 17 December of that year, speculating in committee that by admitting her as a member, it might inspire more women to develop products which could be useful in households across the country. Her paper was published in Kungl. Vetenskapsakademiens Handlingar (Transactions of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences), and the Board of Commerce printed 4,000 copies and distributed it throughout the country. Turning potatoes into a staple food in Sweden not only reduced the impact of famine and improved the Swedish diet but it increased the availability of wheat, rye and barley for making bread, since potatoes could also be used an alternative for making alcohol. The downside was that it also led to a spike in alcohol (brännvin) consumption, especially vodka. On 19 January 1751, the Academy downgraded her status to honorary member. Ironic, really, when it had been using her as a poster girl. Its charter still restricted membership to men. She accepted the decision because she didn’t attend regular meetings (well, she was a bit busy, what with having seven children to raise almost single-handedly as well as running vast estates) but she continued her scientific experiments and later the same year, found another use for potatoes. Potato flour could be used in place of lead, a dangerous element, in cosmetic products such as soap. She developed a method of bleaching cotton textile and yarn with soap and promoted the potato plant by using its flowers as hair ornaments. After the death of her husband in 1771, Eva continued to manage her estates until she died in 1786, aged 61. And after her death? The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences elected its second female member…in 1951. Only 203 years later. France dropped its ban on potatoes for human consumption, not because Eva had shown it to be a safe and versatile source of food but because Antoine-Augustin Parmentier published “Manière de faire le pain de pommes de terre, sans mélange de farine” (How to make potato bread, without flour) in 1779 - 31 years after Eva published her paper. He is credited with making the potato popular in Europe. That’s why you’ve heard of parmentier potatoes, not Ekeblad potatoes.