Sofya Kovalevskaya, Biography Of A Daring Mathematician

Sofya Kovalevskaya was a very remarkable woman, both for the contributions she made in fields such as mathematics and physics, and for her impressive tenacity. It was born at a time when women had closed the doors of education and could not even exercise the right to travel without permission from their father or husband.

The most interesting thing in the life of Sofya Kovalevskaya is precisely the way in which she managed to overcome all the limits imposed by society and carry out her dreams and projects. In fact, she was the first woman to complete a university degree in the world and, of course, the first university professor to be known around the globe.

Without really wanting it, Kovalevskaya becomes a pioneering figure in feminism, but what she really shows is that determination is an irrepressible force that, at times, helps us achieve what seemed impossible.

Sofya Kovalevskaya, in addition to an important career in the scientific field, also ventured into writing, dedicated herself to poetry, scientific dissemination and made contributions in astronomy.

Sofya Kovalevskaya’s childhood

Sofya Kovalevskaya came from a very particular family. On the maternal side, he was a descendant of the King of Hungary, Matías Corvino. However, his grandfather married a gypsy woman, contrary to royal rules and, as a consequence, he was denied the title of prince to which he was entitled.

On the paternal side, among his Polish ancestors, there were several luminaries, such as the cartographer Friedrich Schubert and the astronomer Theodor von Schubert.

Sofya was born on January 15, 1850 in Moscow. His older  sister was the famous socialist Anna Jaclard. From a very young age, she moved to Belarus with her family, in an environment highly influenced by science and knowledge. Two of his uncles and at times his own father instilled in him a great love of reading and research.

During the move to Belarus, the family came across a wall that had not been completely upholstered in Sofya’s room. Therefore, they decided to solve the problem by taking the pages of a book and gluing them in order to cover the gaps that had been left without upholstery. By chance, it was a differential calculus book, which the girl began to look at and read with surprise and interest.

A bright girl

Although the father hired private tutors to give him the first teachings, he was afraid when he saw Sofya’s progress. He was terrified of “wise women,” so he  cut her off from her education.

However, the young woman managed to continue studying on her own. In a self-taught way, he managed to learn and deduce various algebra topics.

The famous writer Fedor Dostoyevsky courted his sister, while Sofya was totally in love with him. It was his impossible love.

Both she and her sister were aware that the only way to get some freedom was by getting married. Back then, many women agreed to “white marriages,” in other words, for convenience.

What was customary was to agree a formal marriage with the husband and then each one to live in complete freedom. Anna, the older sister, sought this option with paleontologist Vladimir Kovalevski. However, he preferred to marry Sofya, who was only 18 years old.

A unique woman

As expected, the marriage gave Sofya Kovalevskaya new opportunities; They first moved to Heidelberg and later to Berlin.

There he met the famous mathematician and analyst Karl Weierstrass, who at first did not believe in his talent. When she realized her passion and intelligence, she asked to be accepted into the university, but was unsuccessful. So he decided to give him private lessons.

Thanks to the support of Weierstrass, Sofya managed to graduate as a doctor. He got them to allow him to present his thesis, without the requirement that he be present. He began a long pilgrimage to get a job that would allow him to develop his talent.

About ten years after graduation, her friend Gustav Mittag-Leffler helped her get hired as a professor at Stockholm University.

By then, Sofya already had a daughter and her husband had committed suicide. Her status as a widow was a contributing factor in reducing resistance to being hired.

Throughout her life, she received various awards and over time she was also the first woman to join the Russian Academy of Sciences. He died early, at the age of 41, as a result of pneumonia. One of the craters on the moon is named after him, in homage to his great contributions.

In short, it is one of the many female names that history tried to hide, one of those many women who are hardly talked about in schools and whose career, however, is just as notorious and even superior than that of some contemporaries. that we do know. One of those brilliant minds that, regardless of gender, flourish from time to time in human history.