Sonia Kovalevsky (1850‐1891)

Sonia
Kovalevsky
(1850‐1891)
“Say what you know, do you what you must, come what may”
Also
Known
As
.
.
.
Sonia
Kovalevsky
Sofia
Kovalevsky
Sofya
Kovalevsky
Sonya
Corvin‐
Krukovsky
•  Sonya
Kovalevskaia
•  Sonia
Kovelsvskaya
• 
• 
• 
• 
Family
History
•  Russian
family
of
minor
nobility
•  great
grandaughter
of
famous
Russian
astronomer
•  Older
sister,
Anya,
was
well
admired
•  Younger
brother,
Fedya,
the
male
heir
•  Sonia
was
the
middle
child
Sonia’s
childhood
•  Under
the
care
of
a
strict
governess
who
made
it
her
personal
duty
to
turn
Sonia
into
a
young
lady
•  Became
fairly
nervous
and
withdrawn…these
traits
were
very
noPceable
throughout
her
life
•  Exposed
to
mathemaPcs
at
a
very
young
age
•  Sonia
credits
her
uncle
Peter
for
first
sparking
her
curiosity
in
math
InteresPng
facts
in
Sonia’s
childhood...
•  Sonia’s
parents
ran
out
of
wallpaper
for
the
house
so
Sonia’s
room
was
wallpapered
in
her
father’s
old
calculus
notes
•  At
14,
taught
herself
trigonometry
in
order
to
understand
the
opPcs
secPon
of
the
physics
book
she
was
reading
Sonia’s
educaPon
•  The
author
of
the
physics
book
and
also
her
neighbor,
Professor
Tyrtov,
was
impressed
with
Sonia’s
capabiliPes
and
convinced
her
father
to
allow
her
to
go
to
school
in
St.
Petersburg
to
conPnue
in
her
studies
An
old
crush...
•  Sonia
had
a
crush
on
Fyodor
Dostoevsky
•  PracPced
his
favorite
piano
work,
Beethoven’s,
Pathe&que
Sonata,
to
get
his
aXenPon
•  But
he
was
focused
on
Sonia’s
older
sister,
Anya
DeterminaPon
to
aXend
a
university
•  The
closest
universiPes
open
to
women
were
in
Switzerland
•  However,
young,
unmarried
women
were
not
permiXed
to
travel
alone
•  Sonia
entered
into
a
marriage
of
convenience
to
Vladimir
Kovalevsky
in
Sept.
1868
ConPnuing
Studies
•  In
1870
Sonia
studied
under
Karl
Weierstrass
at
the
University
of
Berlin
–  Weierstrass
was
considered
one
of
the
most
renowned
mathemaPcians
of
his
Pme…did
not
take
Sonia
seriously
at
first
•  Karl
privately
tutored
her
because
the
university
would
not
permit
women
to
aXend…
did
this
for
4
years
Accomplishments
•  Completed
3
papers
that
Weierstrass
deemed
each
worthy
of
a
doctorate
–  ParPal
differenPal
equaPons
•  published
in
Crelle’s
Journal
in
1875
–  Abelian
integrals
•  dealt
with
reducPon
of
Abelian
integrals
to
simpler
ellipPc
integrals
–  Saturn’s
Rings
Sonia’s
Great
Achievement
•  Weierstraß
used
his
influence
to
persuade
the
University
of
Göfngen
to
award
her
a
doctorate,
summa
cum
laude,
in
1874
•  First
woman
to
receive
a
doctorate
in
MathemaPcs
•  One
of
the
first
women
in
any
field
to
receive
a
doctorate
Homebound...
•  Despite
the
fact
that
Sonia
received
a
doctorate
in
MathemaPcs
she
was
sPll
unable
to
obtain
employment
•  She
spent
the
following
nine
years
jobhunPng.
Being
a
woman
didn't
help.
The
best
job
she
could
find
was
teaching
arithmePc
at
an
elementary
school.
•  Moved
back
home
to
Palobino
with
Vladimir
New
found
love...
•  Aker
returning
home,
Sonia’s
father
died
unexpectedly
•  During
this
sorrow,
Sonia
and
Vladimir’s
unhappy
marriage
became
a
loving
one
•  Sonia
gave
birth
to
her
daughter,
Sofia
called
“Fufa”
•  Sonia
developed
her
literary
skills
(wrote
ficPon,
theater
reviews
and
science
arPcles
for
a
newspaper)
Sonia’s
return
to
mathemaPcs...
•  Leaving
her
daughter
to
be
raised
by
her
sister…
•  In
1880
Sonia
returned
to
work
in
mathemaPcs
•  In
1881
Sonia
and
Vladimir
separated
•  In
1882
she
began
work
on
the
refracPon
of
light…wrote
3
arPcles
on
the
topic
The
grief
that
struck
her...
•  She
and
Vladimir
sought
their
fortune
in
various
business
speculaPons
and
idealisPc
fundraising
to
establish
a
women's
university.
These
efforts
all
ended
in
financial
disaster,
and
the
accumulaPon
of
frustraPons
lead
to
the
break‐up
of
their
marriage.
•  In
1883,
Vladimir
commiXed
suicide
due
to
all
of
his
business
ventures
collapsing
•  Sonia
immersed
herself
in
her
work
to
rid
herself
of
feelings
of
guilt
The
great
year
that
began
with
grief
•  Sonia
received
an
invitaPon
from
MiXag‐Leffler
to
lecture
at
the
University
of
Stockholm
•  In
1884,
she
gained
a
tenured
posiPon
at
the
university
•  Appointed
editor
for
mathemaPcs
journal
•  Became
the
1st
woman
since
the
physicist
Laura
Bassi
and
Maria
Gaetan
Agnesi
to
hold
a
chair
at
a
European
University
(Chair
of
Mechanics)
More
achievements...
•  Published
her
1st
paper
on
crystals
•  Co‐wrote
a
play,
“The
Struggle
for
Happiness”
More
bad
news…followed
by
triumph
•  In
1887,
Sonia’s
sister,
Anya,
died
•  In
1888,
entered
her
paper,
“On
the
RotaPon
of
a
Solid
Body
about
a
Fixed
Point,”
in
a
compePPon
for
the
Prix
Bordin
by
the
French
Academy
of
Science
and
won
–  so
highly
regarded
that
the
prize
money
increased
from
3000
francs
to
5000
francs
–  was
entered
anonymously
•  Maxim
Kovalevsky
was
Sonia’s
last
love
•  Maxim
and
Sonia
had
a
scandalous,
rocky
affair
•  Too
passionate
about
their
work
to
give
it
up
for
the
other
•  Maxim
wanted
Sonia
to
move
and
give
up
her
hard‐earned
posiPons
to
simply
be
his
wife
•  Sonia
rejected
such
an
idea,
but
sPll
could
not
bear
the
loss
of
him
A
depressed
Sonia...
•  She
fell
into
another
frequent
depression
state
•  Turned
to
wriPng
–  “RecollecPons
of
Childhood”
•  She
eventually
became
ill
with
depression
and
influenza
complicated
with
pneumonia
•  Died
on
Feb.
10,
1891
Stockholm,
Sweden
DedicaPon
to
Sonia
•  Has
a
lunar
feature
named
aker
her
(crater)
–  roughly
in
the
center
of
ClemenPne
•  Many
high
schools
and
universiPes
have
special
Sonia
Kovalevsky
days
in
honor
of
her
achievements
DedicaPon
to
Sonia
(cont.)
•  First
Russian
woman
to
have
Russian
stamps
made
aker
her