Background
Elsa van Dien was born in Paramaribo (Surinam) July 12, 1914 as the daughter of Rebecca da Silva and Gerrit van Dien.
Elsa van Dien was born in Paramaribo (Surinam) July 12, 1914 as the daughter of Rebecca da Silva and Gerrit van Dien.
She received her Doctor of Philosophy from Harvard University.
The family moved to the Netherlands in 1923. Elsa commenced her Astronomy study in 1932 at the University of Amsterdam. She also registered at the University of Leiden (The Netherlands) in 1935, to have access to its observatory.
She was awarded a scholarship by Radcliffe College for September 1939, but due to the Second World War she could only commence her Doctor of Philosophy there in September 1945, also with support of the American Association of University Women (American Association of University Women).
The title of her thesis is: The Stark-effect of the higher Balmer lines in stars of spectral types A and B. Thesis - Radcliffe, 1947. After her Doctor of Philosophy she initially stayed at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in Victoria, Canada.
In 1948 she moved back to the Netherlands. In August 1948 she was appointed at the Bosscha Observatory near Bandung, Indonesia.
She continued her astronomical research until 1958, when the family returned to the Netherlands.
She resumed doing research in astronomy after the death of van Albada in December 1972.