Maria Matilda Ogilvie Gordon (30 April 1864 – 24 June 1939) was a 19th century Scottish scientist.
Maria Ogilvie was born in Monymusk, Aberdeenshire in 1864, the eldest daughter of educationalist Rev. D. A. Ogilvie and Maria Matilda Nichol.[1][2] She had five brothers and two sisters.[1] Several of her family members were educators, and her elder brother was also a scientist, Francis Grant Ogilvie.[1] She was educated at the Ladies' College in Edinburgh, the Royal Academy of Music, (where she studied the piano), Heriot-Watt College and University College London.[2] She completed her Bachelor of Science degree in 1890, specialising in geology, botany and zoology.[1] In 1891, she travelled to Germany to continue her studies but was refused entry to Berlin University.[1] (Women were not admitted to higher education institutions at the time in Germany.)[1] She had befriended German scientist Ferdinand von Richthofen and his wife, who accompanied her to Munich where she studied with Karl von Zittel and Richard von Hertwig and carried out research.[1] In July 1891, the Richthofens travelled to the Dolomites for five weeks, inviting Ogilvie to go with them.[1] It was in the Dolomites with Richthofen that she began to focus her work on geology.[1] In 1893 she was awarded the Doctor of Science from the University of London and was the first woman to receive this degree.[2][3]
In 1895 she married Dr. John Gordon of Aberdeen.[3] They had three children.[2]