Sonia Kovalevsky 1850-1891

1. Sonia Kovalevsky (1850-1891)

2. Another P. Diddy?….. Sonia Kovalevsky Sofia Kovalevsky Sofya Kovalevsky Sonya Corvin-Krukovsky Sonya Kovalevskaia Sonia Kovelsvskaya

3. Family History Russian family of minor nobility Older sister, Anya, was well admired Younger brother, Fedya, the male heir Sonia was the middle child

4. 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the care of a strict governess who made it her personal duty to turn Sonia into a young lady Became fairly nervous and withdrawn…these traits were very noticeable throughout her life Exposed to mathematics at a very young age Sonia credits her uncle Peter for first sparking her curiosity in math

5. Interesting 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 Taught herself trigonometry in order to understand the optics section of the physics book she was reading

6. Sonia’s education The author of the physics book and also her neighbor, Professor Tyrtov, was impressed with Sonia’s capabilities and convinced her father to allow her to go to school in St. Petersburg to continue in her studies

7. An old crush... Sonia had a crush on Fyodor Dostoevsky Practiced his favorite piano work, Beethoven’s, Pathetique Sonata, to get his attention But he was focused on Sonia’s older sister, Anya

8. Determination to attend a university The closest universities open to women were in Switzerland However, young, unmarried women were not permitted to travel alone Sonia entered into a marriage of convenience to Vladimir Kovalevsky in Sept. 1868

9. Continuing Studies In 1870 Sonia studied under Karl Weierstrass at the University of Berlin Weierstrass was considered one of the most renowned mathematicians of his time…did not take Sonia seriously at first Karl privately tutored her because the university would not permit women to attend…did this for 4 years

10. Accomplishments Completed 3 papers that Weierstrass deemed each worthy of a doctorate Partial differential equations published in Crelle’s Journal in 1875 Abelian integrals dealt with reduction of Abelian integrals to simpler elliptic integrals Saturn’s Rings

11. Sonia’s Great Achievement Granted a doctorate, summa cum laude, from the University of Gottingen First woman to receive a doctorate in Mathematics One of the first women in any field to receive a doctorate

12. Homebound... Despite the fact that Sonia received a doctorate in Mathematics she was still unable to obtain employment Moved back home to Palobino with Vladimir

13. New found love... After 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, Fufa Sonia developed her literary skills (wrote fiction, theater reviews and science articles for a newspaper)

14. Sonia’s return to mathematics... In 1880 Sonia returned to work in mathematics In 1881 Sonia and Vladimir separated In 1882 she began work on the refraction of light…wrote 3 articles on the topic

15. The grief that struck her... In 1883, Vladimir committed suicide due to all of his business ventures collapsing Sonia immersed herself in her work to rid herself of feelings of guilt

16. The great year that began with grief Sonia received an invitation from Mittag-Leffler to lecture at the University of Stockholm She gained a tenured position at the university Appointed editor for mathematics 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)

17. More achievements... Published her 1st paper on crystals Co-wrote a play, “The Struggle for Happiness”

18. More bad news…followed by triumph In 1887, Sonia’s sister, Anya, died In 1888, entered her paper, “On the Rotation of a Solid Body about a Fixed Point,” in a competition 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

19. “Femme Fatale?” 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 positions to simply be his wife Sonia rejected such an idea, but still could not bear the loss of him

20. A depressed Sonia... She fell into another frequent depression state Turned to writing “Recollections of Childhood” She eventually became ill with depression and influenza complicated with pneumonia Died on Feb. 10, 1891

21. Dedication to Sonia Has a lunar feature named after her (crater) roughly in the center of Clementine Many high schools and universities have special Sonia Kovalevsky days in honor of her achievements

22. Dedication to Sonia (cont.) First Russian woman to have Russian stamps made after her