Anna Tumarkin (Belarusian: А́нна-Э́стер Паўлаўна Тума́ркін, Hebrew: אנה-אסתר פבלובנה טומרקין, 16 February 1875 – 7 August 1951) was a Russian-born, naturalized Swiss academic, who was the first woman to become a professor of philosophy at the University of Bern.

[3][4] Three years later, she submitted her thesis on Johann Gottfried Herder and Immanuel Kant,[5] which she successfully defended, and passed her examinations earning her doctorate.

[2] Around this same time, she met Anna Hoff, an older woman and friend of Dr. Stein's, who often attended the lectures he held at his home.

[6] Tumarkin and the younger Hoff, would later become life-long companions, though there is no evidence one way or the other to determine if their relationship was a lesbian partnership.

[2][10] In 1912, Tumarkin became the roommate of Ida Hoff, who by that time had graduated from her studies and become one of the first female physicians in Bern.

[6] The two women were opposites in personality with Hoff being firmly grounded, practical, and a free-spirit, while Tumarkin was an abstract thinker, preferred routine, and was often engaged in seeking rational explanations for minutia.

[7] In 1918, Tumarkin's Russian passport was nullified when Chișinău became part of the Kingdom of Romania and she sought Swiss citizenship, which was granted to her in 1921.

[3] Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Tumarkin published many works which evaluated Russian culture in its historical context as well as how that had shaped Swiss society.

[15] In February 2000, next to the original building housing the University of Berne, a street, Tumarkinweg, was named in her honor.

[2] In 2014, a book honoring women pioneers Pionnières de la Suisse moderne: Des femmes qui ont vécu la liberté (Pioneers of Modern Switzerland: Women Who Lived for Freedom) was published by Editions Slatkine and included a profile on Tumarkin.