(1850-1891) Russian mathematician, first woman - corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences
Sofya Vasilyevna Kovalevskaya was born into the family of General Vasily Vasilyevich Krukovsky and Elizaveta Fedorovna Schubert, who received European education: she knew four languages, classic literature, played the piano. At home they liked to say that the blood of the Hungarian king Matthew Corvinus flowed in their veins. The king's daughter became interested in the Polish knight Krukovsky, and the Korvin-Krukovskys appeared in Lithuania. In 1858, Major General Vasily Vasilyevich Korvin-Krukovsky was awarded the rank of nobility.
Why did the girl show an interest in mathematics at an early age? Sofya Vasilyevna recalled: “When we moved to live in the village, the whole house had to be redecorated and all the rooms covered with new wallpaper. There were many rooms, and there wasn’t enough wallpaper for one of our children’s rooms; It was absolutely not worth ordering wallpaper from St. Petersburg for one room.
This abused room remained for many years with one wall covered with plain paper. By a lucky coincidence, it was precisely the sheets of lithographed lectures by Mikhail Vasilyevich Ostrogradsky on differential and integral calculus, acquired by my father in his youth, that were used for this purpose. These sheets, covered with strange, incomprehensible formulas, soon attracted my attention. I remember how, as a child, I spent whole hours in front of this mysterious wall, trying to make out at least individual phrases and find the order in which the sheets were supposed to follow each other. From long, daily contemplation appearance“Many of the formulas were engraved in my memory, and the text itself left a deep imprint on my brain, although at the very moment of reading it remained incomprehensible to me.”
Sophia’s older sister Anyuta, who later became a writer, was proud that her story “The Dream” was published by F.M. Dostoevsky in his journal.
Professor Nikolai Nikonovich Tyrtov convinced his friend, General Korvin-Krukovsky, that Sophia needed to study higher mathematics, and recommended his student Alexander Strannolyubsky as a teacher.
Fleet lieutenant, student at the Naval Academy, and then a brilliant teacher at the maritime school, where he worked for 30 years. It was from him that the outstanding shipbuilder Alexei Nikolaevich Krylov studied. “Alexander Nikolaevich,” said Sofya Vasilievna, “was very surprised at how quickly I grasped and internalized the concepts of limit and derivative, “as if I knew them in advance,” that’s exactly how he put it. And the thing really was that at that minute when he explained these concepts to me, I suddenly vividly remembered that all this was on Ostrogradsky’s sheets that I remembered, and the very concept of the limit seemed familiar to me for a long time.”
It was possible to free oneself from parental care and get an education in the West (in Russia, women were not accepted into higher education institutions) only by entering into a fictitious marriage. Then Vladimir Onufrievich Kovalevsky appeared. He was a prominent biologist. His works were known in Russia and abroad, he actively corresponded with Darwin, the latter knew the works of Kovalevsky and was friends with him. Vladimir Onufrievich wrote to his brother: “Despite her eighteen years, the sparrow is excellently educated, knows all languages as if she were her own, and is still mainly engaged in mathematics, and is already studying spherical trigonometry and integrals - she works like an ant from morning to morning.” nights and at the same time alive, sweet and very pretty. In general, such happiness fell on me that it’s hard to imagine.” So, ahead is abroad, the university in Heidelberg, but for now the Kovalevskys are in St. Petersburg. They attend Ivan Mikhailovich Sechenov's lectures on physiology and Gruber's lectures at the Medical-Surgical Academy.
And yet you need to go abroad. And here are the Kovalevskys in Vienna. Anyuta came with them. But Sofia Vasilievna’s path lies in Small town Heidelberg, to the famous German university, where she arrived in 1869. The news of the extraordinary abilities of the Russian student spread around little Heidelberg. The life of Sofia Vasilievna in Heidelberg is known from the memoirs of Yu.V. Lermontova, whose father was the second cousin of the great poet. Julia wrote: “All the professors with whom Sonya studied were delighted with her abilities; At the same time, she was very hardworking, she could spend hours at a time, without leaving her desk, doing math calculations.”
A fictitious marriage with Vladimir Onufrievich Kovalevsky turned into a real one, and friendship turned into love. But Kovalevsky has a restless character, he is possessed by a desire to change places. Sofya Vasilievna also has to get used to traveling and hotels. First to London, where Vladimir Onufrievich met with Charles Darwin, from there to Paris, and finally to cozy Heidelberg, which had become his home, to the university. After a course of lectures on mathematics, Leo Koenigsberger, a student of the famous Weierstrass, had to go to Berlin.
Leo Koenigsberger's recommendation had an effect on the fifty-five-year-old professor, but this was clearly not enough for the university council. Karl Weierstrass began studying with Kovalevskaya at home. She became his favorite student. Despite the age difference, they became close friends. Weierstrass set more and more complex mathematical problems for his talented student. Sofia Vasilievna’s successes amazed even her famous teacher. It was time to think about defending my doctoral dissertation. A defense took place at the University of Göttingen at the Faculty of Philosophy. Weierstrass writes to Göttingen that three mathematical problems were solved by Sofia Vasilievna Kovalevskaya: the first was about partial differential equations, the second was related to elliptic integrals, and the third problem concerned the famous Pierre Laplace's research on the rings of Saturn. The assessment of the work was the highest. Sofya Vasilyevna Kovalevskaya was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in absentia. Five years of hard work, study, and research are behind us. Now home, to my homeland.
Sophia was congratulated by her relatives, the future seemed cloudless: university, teaching career.
True, Russian laws allowed women to teach mathematics only in elementary gymnasium classes.
After a holiday in the village of Palibino, the Kovalevskys arrived in St. Petersburg, among their acquaintances were Sechenov and Mendeleev, Chebyshev and Turgenev and, of course, Dostoevsky. In 1875, Vasily Vasilyevich Korvin-Krukovsky died. He left an inheritance to his children, nevertheless, financial difficulties haunt Vladimir Onufrievich. He was a talented scientist, but a lousy businessman. His commercial projects failed. Meanwhile, the Kovalevsky family is expecting an addition. Sophia is expecting a child, and mathematics fades into the background. A daughter was born, who was also named Sophia.
Vladimir Onufrievich is making desperate attempts to somehow stabilize the family’s financial situation: he is building houses and public baths on Vasilyevsky Island, but in the end the houses and bathhouses built did not bring in any income. Creditors describe houses and property, the Kovalevskys decide to leave St. Petersburg for Moscow. Vladimir Onufrievich was offered a good position in a commercial company; on business he often needs to go abroad, which is very attractive to him, as it gives him the opportunity to meet fellow scientists; finally, he is invited to Moscow University to give lectures on geology and paleontology. Vladimir Onufrievich begins to lecture at Moscow University and at the same time does not want to give up his work in society. These cases, the essence of which is attempts to get rich at any cost, through speculation, combinations and deception, could not help but end in disaster. Completely bankrupt, Vladimir Onufrievich committed suicide by putting a mask on his face and inhaling chloroform.
The news of her husband's death found Sofya Kovalevskaya in Paris and completely overwhelmed her. She spent four days without food, and on the fifth day she lost consciousness. When the doctor and friends were able to help her, then, opening her eyes, Sophia asked for a pencil and paper and began to write down the formulas. The return to the world of mathematics of 33-year-old Kovalevskaya took place.
In August 1883, the VII Congress of Russian naturalists and doctors took place in Odessa. Kovalevskaya was among those invited; she gave a report “On the refraction of light in crystals,” which was recognized as one of the best. From Odessa Sofya Vasilyevna writes to a Swedish mathematician, her great friend G. Mittag-Leffler, who played a big role in Kovalevskaya’s life. He was a devoted and sincere friend until the end of her days; it is to him that we owe the fact that all correspondence with Kovalevskaya is stored in his archive at the mathematical institute in Sweden, which bears his name. She thanks Stockholm University for the invitation to give a course of lectures there.
“The princess of science has arrived in our city,” wrote the Stockholm newspapers. During the two months that Sofya Vasilievna lived with the hospitable Mittag-Lefflers, she made many friends in Swedish society; everyone wanted to take part in her fate and help her. The first lecture, the second, the students applauded her, presented her with flowers, and admired her. Through the efforts of Mittag-Leffler and Kovalevskaya, a strong mathematical school was created at the university. In addition, Mittag-Leffler attracted the best mathematicians in Europe and created the journal Acta Mathematica, which included Sofia Kovalevskaya on the editorial board. Her teaching achievements allowed the board of Stockholm University to award her the title of professor.
In the new academic year Professor Sofya Kovalevskaya is already giving lectures in Swedish. She is widely known, leads literary activity. Friendship with G. Mittag-Leffler's sister, writer Anna-Charlotte Edgren Leffler, created an extraordinary duo of writers: their joint plays appeared.
Sofya Vasilievna is actively involved in science. In 1888, she wrote the work “The Problem of the Rotation of a Rigid Body Around a Fixed Point,” which won her a prize from the Paris Academy of Sciences. In Paris, she met with the greatest mathematicians of the time, Hermite, Bertrand, Poincaré and Darboux. The following year, for a second paper on the same topic, she was awarded a prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Kovalevsky appears in Sofia Vasilievna’s personal life. Namesake. Maxim Maksimovich Kovalevsky, a rich, gifted professor at Moscow University, fired for freethinking statements, becomes her closest friend. Sofya Vasilievna works a lot, does not spare herself, sleeps 4-5 hours a day. This leads to nervous fatigue. In recent years he has been a very sick person. Therefore, she, together with M.M. Kovalevsky commits big Adventure in Germany, Switzerland and Italy, which she was simply fascinated by.
The year 1889 was a milestone life path famous mathematician: general meeting Petersburg Academy of Sciences approved S.V. Kovalevskaya as a corresponding member. Her candidacy was nominated by the remarkable Russian scientists P. Chebyshev, V. Imshenetsky, V. Bunyakovsky.
One cannot fail to mention the literary gift of Sofia Kovalevskaya. Her creative heritage speaks of the great talent of the writer. Kovalevskaya’s language is bright and figurative, full of poetic colors, her observations are accurate and witty, her imagination and fantasy are inexhaustible.
At the end of January 1891, Kovalevskaya returned from Genoa to Stockholm. Wet snow, piercing wind, and cold air met her here. A severe cold sapped her strength in a matter of days. On February 10, 1891, at the 42nd year of her life, the great Russian mathematician Sofya Vasilievna Kovalevskaya died in Stockholm at the zenith of her creativity.
Name: Sofiya Kovalevskaya
Age: 41 years old
Place of Birth: Moscow
A place of death: Stockholm, Sweden
Activity: mathematics professor
Family status: was married
Sofya Kovalevskaya - biography
Sofya Vasilyevna Kovalevskaya (nee Korvin-Krukovskaya) is a brilliant woman mathematician, the first in the world to become a professor. Unfortunately, nowadays she is rarely remembered, but her biography is interesting and fascinating.
Sofya Kovalevskaya - childhood biography
Largely on mathematical development Sophia was influenced by her parents who gave her good upbringing and education. Sophia was born into a wealthy and rich family January 3, 1850. Then her family still lived in Moscow. The girl’s father, Corwin-Krukovsky, was an artillery general at that time, and her mother, Elizaveta Schubert, was involved in housekeeping and raising children.
Sophia also had an older sister, Anna. When little Sophia was barely six years old, her father left his place of service and decided to settle with his family on a family estate near Moscow. Realizing that the children needed a good education, a teacher was immediately hired.
Sofia Kovalevskaya - Education
Primary home education also included the study of arithmetic, but the future brilliant mathematician did not show any interest in this subject, nor did she show her extraordinary abilities. But an in-depth study of this subject, which lasted more than 4 years, provided the basis for the further development of Sophia’s mathematical talents.
After 10 years, the girl very quickly mastered the basics of arithmetic, learned to solve problems, and soon her teacher Malevich allowed her to study Bourdon’s arithmetic, which was designed for 2 years of study at the University of Paris. People around her began to notice the girl's extraordinary mathematical abilities, and one day her father was advised to hire another teacher - Strannolyubsky, a naval lieutenant. Already in the first lesson, Sophia amazed him with her talent for instantly mastering a new topic.
In 1863, Sophia entered pedagogical courses at the Mariinsky Gymnasium in the natural and mathematical department. Having received a matriculation certificate, Sophia, along with her husband and sister, moves to St. Petersburg and again returns to Strannolyubsky’s lessons. She also begins secretly attending math lectures. She is now absorbed in only one thing - mathematics, having decided to devote her whole life to it.
Continuing her education, Sofya Kovalevskaya and her husband travel abroad. But, not finding good teachers in Vienna, he moved to Heidelberg. With difficulty, scandals and conflicts, Sophia managed to ensure that she was allowed to listen to lectures on mathematics and physics. The most famous people In Germany, lectures were given to female students, which Sofya Kovalevskaya also listened to. At that time, she attended Könisberger’s course, lectures by the mathematician Kirchhoff, Dubois Reymond, Helmholtz, and carried out experiments in a chemical laboratory under the direction of Bunsen.
Her teachers were amazed at the abilities of their student, and each of Sophia’s works received only positive reviews her teachers.
In 1878, Sofya Kovalevskaya and her family moved to Berlin to study with Professor Weirstrass, but the girl was never admitted to the university, but she began to take private lessons from the professor, and sometimes even he could think while answering difficult questions from his student .
Sofya Kovalevskaya - Career
But a new page in the biography genius mathematician, Sofia Kovalevskaya's mechanics begin when she decides to perform her first independent work. She tried to explore the ring of Saturn.
In 1873-1874, the famous mathematician began to engage in new research. This time the topic of her research was partial differential equations. This doctoral dissertation amazed scientists with its simplicity and accuracy, and later it began to be called the “Cauchy–Kovalevskaya Theorem.” Thanks to this work, Sofya Vasilievna was awarded the degree of Doctor of Mathematical Philosophy and Master of Fine Arts. In 1874, having completed her studies abroad, she returned to her homeland.
In 1884, Sofya Kovalevskaya gave her first lecture at Stockholm University. Soon she was appointed professor at this university for 5 years. But she continued her mathematical research. In 1886, together with her sister, who was ill at the time, she wrote her first book.
In 1888, the famous mathematician Sofya Kovalevskaya was awarded the Borden Prize, and soon received an award from the Swedish Academy.
Sofya Kovalevskaya - biography of personal life
In 1863, Sofya Vasilyevna, in order to enroll in pedagogical courses, entered into a fictitious marriage with Vladimir Kovalevsky, who was 8 years older than her. Initially, it was decided that he would become the groom of his older sister, but he chose Sophia.
After the training ended, in the biography of Sofia Kovalevskaya there is an important event. Her fictitious marriage becomes a reality and soon a daughter is born into this union in 1878. Childbirth is difficult for her, and for some time she even remains bedridden. The doctors' forecasts were not reassuring: they were not sure that Sophia would ever get out of bed.
Sofia Kovalevskaya - illness and death
After her illness, Sophia continues to study science, but her relationship with her husband deteriorates. Taking her daughter, she leaves for Berlin, and her husband goes to Odessa, where his brother then lived. In 1883 he shot himself.
On January 29, 1891, Sofya Vasilievna died of heart paralysis. Unfortunately, she died in Stockholm, since her research was not given due attention in her homeland.
January 3 (15), 1850, Moscow - January 29
(10) February 1891, Stockholm
R
Russian mathematician and mechanic, since 1889 a foreign corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.
The first female professor in Russia and Northern Europe and the first female professor of mathematics in the world
(Maria Agnesi, who previously received this title
never taught).
Author of the story “Nihilist” (1884) and “Childhood Memories”.
Sofya Vasilievna Kovalevskaya was born on January 3 (15), 1850 in Moscow. In the metric book of the Moscow Ecclesiastical Consistory of the Nikitsky Forty, Znamenskaya Church outside the Petrovsky Gate,
for 1850 there is a record
Daughter of Lieutenant General of Artillery V.V. Korvin-Krukovsky and Elizaveta Fedorovna ( maiden name- Schubert). Kovalevskaya’s grandfather, infantry general F.F. Schubert, was an outstanding mathematician, and great-grandfather F.I. Schubert was an even more famous astronomer.
Kovalevskaya spent her childhood years on the estate of her father Polibino, Nevelsky district, Vitebsk province (now the village of Polibino, Velikoluksky district, Pskov region).
Sofia Kovalevskaya's acquaintance with mathematics occurred in early childhood: the walls of her nursery in the Polibino estate were covered (by accident, due to a lack of wallpaper) with lectures by Professor Ostrogradsky on differential and integral calculus.
The first lessons, in addition to governesses, were given to Kovalevskaya from the age of eight by her home tutor, the son of a small nobleman, Joseph Ignatievich Malevich, who published memories of his student in the book “Russian Antiquity” (December 1890). In 1866, Kovalevskaya went abroad for the first time, and then lived in St. Petersburg, where she took lessons in mathematical analysis from A. N. Strannolyubsky.
The entry of women into higher educational institutions in Russia was prohibited. Therefore, Kovalevskaya could only continue her studies abroad, but a foreign passport could only be issued with the permission of her parents or husband. The father was not going to give permission, because he did not want his daughter’s further education. Therefore, Sophia organized a fictitious marriage with the young scientist V. O. Kovalevsky. True, Kovalevsky did not suspect that he would end up falling in love with his fictitious wife.
In 1868, the newlyweds went abroad. In 1869, Kovalevskaya studied at the University of Heidelberg with Königsberger, and from 1870 to 1874 at the University of Berlin with K. T. W. Weierstrass. According to university rules, women could not attend lectures. But Weierstrass, interested in discovering Sophia’s mathematical talents, supervised her studies.
She sympathized revolutionary struggle and the ideas of utopian socialism, therefore, in April 1871, together with her husband V. O. Kovalevsky, she came to besieged Paris and looked after the wounded communards. Later she took part in the rescue from prison of the Paris Commune leader V. Jacqular, the husband of her revolutionary sister Anna.
Sophia's emancipated friends did not approve of her intimacy with her fictitious husband. They were forced to live in different apartments and different cities. This situation was a burden to both of them. In 1874 they began to live together, and four years later their daughter was born.
In 1874, the University of Göttingen defended the dissertation “Zur Theorie der partiellen Differentialgleichungen” (from German - “Towards a theory differential equations"), assigned to Kovalevskaya
Ph.D. degree. 
In 1879, Kovalevskaya made a presentation at the 6th Congress of Naturalists in St. Petersburg. In 1881 she was elected a member of the Moscow Mathematical Society (privat-docent).
S. V. Kovalevskaya in 1880
After the suicide of her husband (1883), who became entangled in his commercial affairs, Kovalevskaya, left without funds with her five-year-old daughter, came to Berlin and stayed at Weierstrass. At a price huge efforts Using all his authority and connections, Weierstrass managed to secure a place for her at Stockholm University (1884). Under the name Sonya Kovalevsky, she became a professor in the Department of Mathematics at Stockholm University, with the obligation to lecture in German for the first year and in Swedish for the second year.
Sofya Kovalevskaya. Love Formula.
Geniuses and villains.
Soon Kovalevskaya mastered the Swedish language and published her mathematical works and literary works in this language (the novel “The Vorontsov Family”). 
At the end of the 1880s, Sophia's close friend became a relative of her husband, sociologist Maxim Kovalevsky, who left Russia due to persecution by the government. Sophia invited him to her place in Stockholm and provided him with an income by lecturing at a local university. Maxim Kovalevsky proposed to her, but Sophia rejected him because she did not want to tie the knot in a new marriage. In 1890, after a joint trip to the Riviera, they separated.
In 1888, Kovalevskaya became the laureate of the Borden Prize of the Paris Academy of Sciences for the discovery of the third classical case of solvability of the problem of the rotation of a rigid body around a fixed point. A second work on the same topic in 1889 was awarded a prize from the Swedish Academy of Sciences, and Kovalevskaya was elected a corresponding member of the physics and mathematics department
Russian Academy of Sciences.
In 1891, on her way from Berlin to Stockholm, Sophia learned that a smallpox epidemic had begun in Denmark. Frightened, she decided to change the route. But there was nothing other than an open carriage to continue the journey, and she had to transfer to it. On the way, Kovalevskaya caught a cold. The cold turned into pneumonia.
Sofya Kovalevskaya died at the age of 41 on January 29, 1891 in Stockholm “from pleurisy and cardiac paralysis.” She was buried in Stockholm at the Northern Cemetery.
More than love. Sofia Kovalevskaya
The most important studies relate to the theory of rotation of a rigid body. Kovalevskaya discovered the third classical case of solvability of the problem of the rotation of a rigid body around a fixed point. This advanced the solution to the problem begun
Leonhard Euler and J.L. Lagrange.
She proved the existence of an analytical (holomorphic) solution to the Cauchy problem for systems of partial differential equations, studied the Laplace problem on the equilibrium of the ring of Saturn, and obtained a second approximation.
Solved the problem of reducing a certain class of Abelian integrals of the third rank to elliptic integrals. She also worked in the field of potential theory, mathematical physics,
celestial mechanics.
In 1889 she received big bonus Paris Academy for research on the rotation of a heavy asymmetrical top.
Nikolay Matveev
PRINCESS OF SCIENCE
Tale of life
About those who were the first to set foot on uncharted lands.
About courageous revolutionary people.
Who came into the world to make it better.
About those who paved the way in science and art.
Who has been persistent in his aspirations since childhood
And he selflessly pursued his goal.
Sofya Kovalevskaya was passionate about everything that surrounded her, and with subtle observation and thoughtfulness, she had a great ability to artistically reproduce what she saw and felt. She wrote a whole series literary works, including several large ones.
In Russian, from Kovalevskaya’s literary works the following appeared: “Memories of George Elliot” (“Russian Thought”, 1886, No. 6); family chronicle “Childhood Memories” (“Bulletin of Europe”, 1890, No. 7 and 8); “Three days at a peasant university in Sweden” (“Northern Bulletin”, 1890, No. 12); posthumous poem (“Bulletin of Europe”, 1892, No. 2); Together with others (the story “Vae victis” translated from Swedish, an excerpt from the novel in the Riviera), these works were published as a separate collection under the title:
“Literary works of S.V.K.” (SPb., 1893).
Memoirs of the Polish-Belarusian uprising and the novel “The Vorontsov Family” were written in Swedish, the plot of which dates back to the era of ferment among Russian youth in the late 60s of the 19th century.
Of particular interest for characterizing Kovalevskaya’s personality is “Kampen för Lyckan, tvänne paralleldramer of K. L.” (Stockholm, 1887), translated into Russian by M. Luchitskaya, under the title: “The Struggle for Happiness. Two parallel dramas. Essay by S.K. and A.K. Leffler” (Kyiv, 1892). In this double drama, written by Kovalevskaya in collaboration with the Swedish writer A. Lefler-Edgren, but entirely according to Kovalevskaya’s thoughts, she wanted to depict the fate and development of the same people from two opposite points of view, “as it was” and “as it is.” could be".
Kovalevskaya based this work on a scientific idea. 
She was convinced that all actions and actions of people are predetermined, but at the same time she recognized that moments in life can appear when various opportunities for certain actions present themselves, and then life develops in accordance with which path someone takes. will elect.
Kovalevskaya based her hypothesis on the work of A. Poincaré on differential equations: the integrals of the differential equations considered by Poincaré are, from a geometric point of view, continuous curved lines that branch only at some isolated points. The theory shows that the phenomenon flows along a curve to the point of bifurcation (bifurcation), but here everything becomes uncertain and it is impossible to foresee in advance which of the branches the phenomenon will continue to take.
(see also Catastrophe Theory).
According to Leffler (her memories of Kovalevskaya in the “Kiev collection to help those affected by crop failure”, Kyiv, 1892), the main one female figures In this double drama, Alice, Kovalevskaya described herself, and many of the phrases spoken by Alice, many of her expressions were taken entirely from the lips of Kovalevskaya herself. The drama proves the omnipotent power of love, which requires that lovers surrender themselves completely to each other, but it also makes up everything in life that only gives it brilliance and energy.
Printed publications
Kovalevskaya S.V. " Scientific works» —
M.: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1948.
Kovalevskaya S.V. “Memories and Letters” -
M.: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1951.
Kovalevskaya S.V. “Memories. Stories" - M.: Nauka, 1974. - ("Literary monuments").
Kovalevskaya S.V. “Memories. Stories" -
M.: Pravda Publishing House, 1986.
Childhood memories
Kovalevskaya Sofya Vasilievna
Excerpt from a book
Anyuta, being significantly older, naturally enjoyed great advantages against us. She grew up as a free Cossack, not recognizing any authority over herself. She had free access to the living room, and from an early age she earned herself a reputation as a charming child and was accustomed to entertaining guests with her witty, sometimes very impudent antics and remarks. My brother and I showed up in the front rooms only in emergencies; We usually had breakfast and lunch in the nursery. Sometimes, when we had guests for dinner, my mother’s maid, Nastasya, would run into the nursery at dessert time. - Nanny, quickly dress Fedenka in his blue silk shirt and take him to the dining room! The lady wants to show it to the guests,” she says.
read.................
Nihilist
Kovalevskaya Sofya Vasilievna
Excerpt from a book
Count Mikhail Ivanovich Barantsov was a worthy offspring of his family. Handsome in appearance, he had the good fortune to be born at the beginning of the reign of Nicholas, during the period of full flowering of the St. Petersburg guard. Having served for several years in a cuirassier regiment, crushing many women’s hearts and honestly earning himself the flattering nickname “the thunderstorm of husbands” among his comrades, he, while still young, fell madly in love with his distant relative, Marya Dmitrievna Kudryavtseva, who also wore on her beautiful, exactly The face, carved with the chisel of a great artist, clearly bears the stamp of the Barantsov family. Having met reciprocity from both sides, he married her and continued to serve. Maybe he would have risen to high ranks, but at the beginning of the reign of Alexander II, a little trouble happened to him, the cause of which also lay in the stormy Barantsov blood and in the fatal Barantsov beauty. Having become jealous of his beautiful wife for another guards officer, he challenged him to a duel and killed him on the spot. The story was completely suppressed, but the young count still found it awkward to remain in his regiment after that: he was forced to resign and go to the estate that he had just inherited from his father, who died just in time.
read.................Great figures Program 20 Sofya Kovalevskaya
Too much happiness!
Touches to the portrait. Yulia Dubinskaya.
Education for all.
Family (known representatives)
Great-grandfather - F.I. Schubert, astronomer.
Grandfather - F. F. Schubert, surveyor, mathematician.
Father - V.V. Korvin-Krukovsky, general.
Husband - V. O. Kovalevsky, geologist and paleontologist.
Sister - Anna Jacqular, revolutionary and writer.
Brother - Fyodor Vasilyevich Korvin-Krukovsky (1855-1920), official, squandered his father's fortune. According to the memoirs of his daughter Lyudmila Fedorovna, “he greeted the 1917 revolution with enthusiasm, voted for the Bolsheviks in the constituent assembly,” but was left without funds, starved and died in January 1920 in Petrograd. His memories of Sofya Kovalevskaya have been preserved.
The daughter of S. V. and V. O. Kovalevsky, Sofia (October 5, 1878-1952), graduated from the St. Petersburg Women’s Medical Institute, worked as a doctor, translated many of S. V. Kovalevskaya’s works from Swedish, died in Moscow and was buried at Novodevichy cemetery
LYUBOV VORONTSOVA - SOFIA KOVALEVSKAYA
The girl's maternal grandfather Infantry General Fyodor Fyodorovich Schubert, was a famous mathematician, and great-grandfatherFyodor Ivanovich Schubert - famous astronomer and surveyor. Both of them were full members of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.
The girl’s father also had an excellent education - a family that, according to legend, traces its ancestry back to HungarianKing Matthew Corvinus, patron of sciences and art, anything else is simply not appropriate.
However, when in the family of Vasily Vasilyevich and Elizaveta Fedorovna Korvin-Krukovsky On January 15, 1850, a daughter was born, named Sophia, and the most ordinary fate was predicted for her. Home education, marriage, housework and children. This is exactly what happened with Sophia’s mother, born Schubert, daughter and granddaughter of famous Russian scientists.
Elizaveta Fedorovna spoke four languages and played the piano beautifully, but she could only use her talents for raising children and social evenings.
"New Pascal" in a skirt
Perhaps Sophia’s fate would have been the same as her mother’s if her father, General Korvin-Krukovsky, had not been constantly traveling on business. Mother alone had difficulty coping with Sophia and her older sister Anna. The girls were drawn to knowledge, but at the same time, from a young age they were free-thinking and rebellious.
Photo: Alexey Varfolomeev
Reproduction of the painting "Sofia Kovalevskaya"
artist Marina Andreevna Ivanova
A short biography of Sofia Vasilievna Kovalevskaya is the story of a constant struggle for the opportunity to get university education, do math and teach your favorite subject instead of becoming a custodian hearth and home, as was customary at that time. Kovalevskaya became the first female professor in the world and the first female mathematician in Russia.
Origin and family
The biography of Sofia Vasilievna Kovalevskaya (Korvin-Krukovskaya by birth) began on January 3 (15), 1850 in Moscow at the estate of Alexei Streltsov. Once upon a time, Streletskaya Sloboda was located in this building; later, a manufacturer’s estate was built here. Since the mid-nineteenth century, the house was owned by the family of Korvin-Krukovsky, a Russian artillery lieutenant general who devoted his entire life to military affairs.
Later, the mansion was owned by the doctor P. Pikulin. Then representatives of the intelligentsia gathered in the house: doctor Sergei Botkin, prose writers A. Stankevich and D. Grigorovich, poet Afanasy Fet, lawyer B. Chicherin, translator N. Ketcher. The biography of the mathematician Sofia Kovalevskaya was destined to begin in this same place.
The girl's mother was Elizaveta Fedorovna Schubert. The socialite spoke four languages and was a talented pianist. She was the daughter of the general and honorary mathematician Fyodor Fedorovich Schubert and the granddaughter of the outstanding St. Petersburg astronomer Fyodor Ivanovich Shubin. Sofia Kovalevskaya's maternal relatives were the artist Alexander Bryullov and the journalist Osip-Yulian Senkovsky.
In a family of noble origin, two daughters were raised - Sofa and Anna, whom the family invariably called Anyuta, Fedor. The parents' attitude towards their daughter was cool. Shortly before her birth, her father lost money at cards, so he had to pawn his wife’s diamonds. Having their first daughter, they were expecting a boy, so soon Elizabeth and Vasily Korvin-Krukovsky suffered another disappointment.
Home education
The girl spent her childhood years on the estate of her father Polibino in the Vitebsk province. The walls of the children's room in the estate were covered with lectures by Professor Ostrogradsky on integral and differential calculus. This is not always mentioned in short biography Sofia Kovalevskaya, but this is a very interesting fact. The fact is that during the renovation one roll of wallpaper was missing. They did not consider it necessary to send a messenger five hundred miles to the capital. So part of the room turned out to be covered with only the first layer of plain paper. The sofa sat in front of this wall for hours, trying to figure it out. Already as an adult, she recalled many formulas.
In a sense, it began in Polibino scientific biography Sofia Kovalevskaya. Interesting fact: in 1890, her teacher published memories of his student in the book “Russian Antiquity”. Already in the girl’s childhood, he noticed her genius. In the meantime, governesses gave the children their first lessons. From the age of eight, they began to study with a home tutor, a small nobleman Joseph Malevich. The sofa quickly grasped new material and really loved to study. Over the course of several years, she completed almost the entire course of the men's gymnasium.
The girl showed a rare talent, but her home teacher was worried that she had gone too far in mathematics. Rapid advances in science may lead Sophia to want to take an unusual path. If she wants to follow a path that was not generally accepted for a woman in those years, her life is unlikely to be happy. Sophia herself really saw then that mathematics opened up other horizons for her. Her activities made her a prominent person.
Escape formula
Anyuta, Sophia's older sister, was terribly unlucky. The beautiful young girl was looking forward to how in a year she would begin to conquer all the balls. But the family moved to Polibino, to the village. There were no young people in the neighboring villages. At the same time, Anyuta’s previous upbringing was aimed at making her a socialite. She absolutely could not develop any country tastes. She did not like to walk, or pick mushrooms, or ride a boat; she did not find any pleasure in studying.
In the sixties, ideas that had been in the capital for a long time began to seep into the wilderness, namely nihilism and women's education. Anyuta demanded that her father send her and Sophia to St. Petersburg to study. Vasily Korvin-Krukovsky did not object, so the girls and their mother went to the capital.
In St. Petersburg, Anyuta plunges headlong into social life, and eighteen-year-old Sophia really studies. Professor Alexander Strannolyubsky gives her private mathematics lessons. She studies brilliantly. Strannolyubsky, a supporter of the idea of women's education, advises the young girl to try to enter some European university. In Russia at that time, the doors of universities were closed to women.
Fictitious marriage
It was not so easy for a female person to travel abroad. This is possible only with the permission of the husband or father (for unmarried women). It is widely believed that the father, a retired military man of the old school, did not want to give permission, so the girl had to organize a fictitious marriage. This changed the entire biography of Sofia Kovalevskaya.
An interesting fact from life: in fact, the idea of a fictitious marriage belonged to her sister Anna. The older sister, prone to adventure, convinced Sofia that her parents would be against it, that there was no other way to go abroad other than entering into a fictitious marriage. It was Anyuta who told her sister that there are young men who help women in their quest for independence.
It is clear that the fictitious marriage should have been concluded not by Sophia, but by Anyuta. She is older, and according to established tradition, it was the eldest sister who should get married first. The unmarried sister will be released with the married one. Sophia will sit down at the university bench, and Anyuta will finally experience a life full of events and adventures. The girl, due to her youth and inexperience, obeyed her older sister, and she began to look for a groom.
Older sister's fiancé
Vladimir Onufrievich Kovalevsky was a suitable candidate. A twenty-six-year-old lawyer who traveled all over Europe, Herzen's friend and his daughter's teacher, publisher and seller of scientific books. True, he was not rich and successful. His publishing house was constantly on the verge of bankruptcy. Vladimir Onufrievich agreed with Anyuta’s plan until he met her younger sister.
As soon as Kovalevsky saw younger sister his bride, he understood for sure that he should marry only her. Even if it’s a fictitious marriage. Fell in love? Maybe. He wrote to his brother: “I think this meeting will make me a decent person. This nature is smarter and more talented. It's a small phenomenon. And why did I get him? I can’t imagine.” Kovalevsky's choice made the sisters worry about whether their parents would agree to such a marriage.
Wedding of Sophia and Vladimir
Seeing his daughter’s persistent desire to marry Kovalevsky, the father gave his consent. It seems that he would have let Sophia go abroad, so the sisters were in vain in betting on a fictitious marriage. Be that as it may, on September 11, 1868, the wedding of Vladimir Kovalevsky and Sofia Korvin-Krukovskaya was celebrated in Polibino. Immediately after the wedding, the newlyweds left for St. Petersburg, receiving 20 thousand rubles as a dowry, so their departure abroad was guaranteed.
There was a sharp turn in the biography of Sofia Kovalevskaya. She became a married lady. At first, Kovalevskaya was embarrassed and blushed when she had to call her husband absolutely stranger. But soon she became attached to Vladimir. They were together all the time. Many who were aware of the matter regretted Kovalevsky that his wife would never belong to him completely. And Sophia herself was at one time even proud of this, but then she still fell in love with her fictitious husband. So, the biography of Sofia Kovalevskaya was not like banal romance novels.
Foreign education
In the spring of 1969, the couple left for Heidelberg. Sophia began attending lectures on mathematics. A year later, Vladimir and Sophia went to different cities. He went to Vienna, and she went to Berlin. One of the most famous mathematicians of that time, Karl Weierstrass, worked at the university there. Weierstrass was not only very smart. He was bright outstanding personality, never chased money or fame, but fame found him on its own.
University rules did not allow women to attend lectures, but the professor who was interested in disclosing mathematical abilities Sophia, supervised her classes. At the first meeting she most in an unusual way decided a few the most complex tasks, so Karl Weierstrass (pictured below) got into it fatherly love to a young woman. In addition, she was similar to his first love - a girl who stood above him in social status. And Weierstrass, having lost the love of his life, remained a bachelor.
In 1871, Kovalevskaya and her husband moved to besieged Paris, where they cared for Communards wounded during the revolution. He sympathized with the ideas of utopian socialism and revolutionary struggle. Later, a talented woman in mathematics took part in the rescue of the Paris Commune activist Victor Jacqulard, the husband of her older sister Anna, who was imprisoned.
Mystical mathematician
Sofya Kovalevskaya was not only an outstanding scientist and mathematician, but also a mystic. She believed in prophetic dreams, omens and signs of fate. Sofia Vasilievna’s great-grandmother was a fortune teller, and the woman believed that she had inherited this gift from her. Throughout her life, Sophia met patrons who helped her open doors that remained closed to other women in the nineteenth century. She definitely had some special charm that influenced people.
Sophia's great-grandfather Fyodor Schubert often appeared to her in her dreams with clues. And when Elizabeth was pregnant with a girl, he came to her, promising that an outstanding mathematician would be born into the family. The mother considered the dream “empty,” but was afraid that a girl would be born who would join the women who spent their entire lives “hunched over books.” As an adult, Sofya Kovalevskaya, after terrible dreams, more than once persuaded her husband to leave commerce. All her life, some unknown forces helped the woman mathematician move forward, bypassing the rules and prejudices of those years.
Husband's suicide
Sofya Kovalevskaya received her PhD from the University of Göttingen in 1874, and five years later she was elected to membership in the Moscow Mathematical Society. Then a sharp change occurred in the biography of Sofia Kovalevskaya. Her husband, Vladimir Onufrievich, with whom she then lived separately, committed suicide, becoming entangled in his commercial affairs. Sophia was left with a five-year-old daughter in her arms and without a livelihood.
The biography of Sofia Kovalevskaya's daughter, also Sofia, is less impressive. Growing up, she entered medical school and worked as a doctor. Sofya Vladimirovna Kovalevskaya translated many of her mother’s works from Swedish into Russian. Most lived her life in Moscow.
Future life
The achievements in the biography of Sofia Kovalevskaya did not even think of ending with the death of her husband, although she had a hard time surviving this event. The woman moved to Berlin and stayed in Weierstraß. The professor, using his authority and connections, got her a job as a teacher in the mathematics department at Stockholm University. For the first year, under the name Sonya Kowalewski, she taught in German, then in Swedish. Kovalevskaya mastered the Swedish language well and published her works in it.
A close friend of the woman scientist became a relative of her husband, sociologist Maxim Kovalevsky, who had to leave Russia due to persecution by the authorities. Kovalevskaya invited him to Stockholm. Maxim proposed to the woman, but she rejected his advances because she did not want to tie herself into a new marriage. They broke up after a trip to the Riviera together.
Last years and death
Several years before her sudden death, mentions of awards appeared in the biography of Sofia Kovalevskaya. Her genius was recognized in Europe, but in Russia the woman began to be considered the greatest mathematician only after her death. In 1888, Kovalevskaya received the Borden Prize for her discovery of the classical case of solvability (rotation of a rigid body around a fixed point). The second work on this topic was awarded the following year with a prize from the Swedish Academy of Sciences.
At the beginning of 1891, the biography of Sofia Kovalevskaya was destined to end. On her way from Berlin to Stockholm, she learned about the smallpox epidemic and decided to change her route. But there was no suitable transport for the journey other than an open carriage. On the way, Kovalevskaya caught a cold and got pneumonia. Sofya Vasilievna died at the age of forty-one in Stockholm and was buried in the Northern Cemetery.
S.V. Kovalevskaya - Russian scientist late XIX century. Besides the fact that this woman was an outstanding mathematician of her time, we know offensively little about her. Sofya Vasilievna said that many highly gifted specialists, as people, are of little interest. Kovalevskaya herself is a living person with mistakes and weaknesses. In a short biographical sketch I would like to convey all the charm of her image.
Celebrity biographies always begin and end with the words: “Born...” and “Died.. Buried...”. However, Sofya Vasilievna Kovalevskaya did not recognize the canons. Let the description of her life be unconventional. She lived only 41 years (from January 3, 1850 to January 29, 1891), but the time between these dates seems to be denser matter than in other periods. How much has fit in over the years, 16 of which were in childhood! I would like to preface my biography with two highlights her life - two unique epigraphs.
Barricades of the Paris Commune and Sofia Kovalevskaya
A talented scientist, she sympathized with ideas french revolution. In 1871 she came to besieged Paris and helped the wounded Communards. The rescue from prison of V. Jacqular, a member of the Paris Commune, the husband of her sister Anna, occurred with her participation.
18 years. First extraordinary act
In those years, a woman could receive higher education only abroad. To obtain a foreign passport, parental permission was required, but the father did not give such consent. Then Sofya Korvin-Krukovskaya formalizes a fictitious marriage with V.O. Kovalevsky and goes to Germany with him.
Increasing the natural gift...
Obviously, Sonya inherited the outstanding abilities of the Schuberts - her mother's father and grandfather. One of them was a famous mathematician, the other an equally famous astronomer, and both were academicians of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. My father's ancestors came from a noble Hungarian family, dating back to the royal family of Corvin. Portraits of parents decorated the house, literally and figuratively.
Mom, Elizaveta Fedorovna, is a talented pianist, a bright and cheerful person. She is well educated, full of social charm, and is fluent in 4 European languages.
Father, V.V. Korvin-Krukovsky, lieutenant general of artillery, knowledgeable in the sciences, especially in mathematics. But he wishes his daughters a life accepted in the philistine environment: a successful marriage, social events, trips abroad.
Sophia received a “rich” inheritance: a passion for science, a love for mathematics, music and literature.
Childhood, youth, growing up
Sophia was born in Moscow and spent her childhood on her father's estate in the present-day Pskov region. My passion for mathematics began in early childhood. In the Polibino family estate, the walls of her room were covered with sheets of Ostrogradsky’s university lectures (there wasn’t enough wallpaper). This is how the girl first became acquainted with differential calculus. Further more.
Homeschooling developed natural abilities and sparked an interest in mathematics and mechanics. While still a 16-year-old teenager, the girl left for St. Petersburg. Women's access to Russian universities was closed. For two years she took private lessons in higher mathematics, listened to Sechenov’s lectures, and studied anatomy. Which educated person has not heard of these famous names: teacher A. N. Strannolyubsky, professor of St. Petersburg University I. M. Sechenov, teacher of anatomy in Military Medical Academy V. L. Gruber, Western scientists Kirchhoff, Dubois-Reymond, Helmholtz, Weierstrass. All of them at different times were Kovalevskaya’s mentors, and everyone admired her talent, hard work and perseverance.
Kovalevskaya found a way to continue her studies in Europe. A fictitious marriage gave a residence permit; managed to rescue him from the house and older sister Anna. Having left for Germany in 1868 with her husband V.O. Kovalevsky, Sophia did a surprising amount in science in 6 years. She was in constant creative search.
- 1869. Study at the University of Heidelberg with professors Koenigsberger and Kirchhoff;
- 1870. Private lessons with Weierstrass (women were not admitted to the University of Berlin);
- 1871. Presentation of three works from the most difficult branches of mathematics. Publication of the first work in the German "Journal of Theoretical and Applied Mathematics". Two other articles: “On the shape of the ring of Saturn” and “On Abelian integrals” were also published in prestigious journals: “Astronomical News” and the Swedish royal “Acta Mathematica” in 1884-1885. All of the listed publications are successfully operating today and have a high impact factor;
- 1874. Return to St. Petersburg. At home, official scientific circles do not recognize her merits.
Several years of forced break from work (the birth of a daughter, difficult relationships with her husband, his death) only increased the thirst for activity.
- 1884-1885. Receiving the title of professor at Stockholm University, heading the department of mechanics. Along the way, I had to learn Swedish.
- 1888-1889. The scientist’s main work, “Study of the rotation of a rigid body around a fixed point,” is devoted to an urgent problem in mechanics of the 19th century. Published in Acta Mathematica. Awarded the Paris Academy Prize.
- 1890. Election as a corresponding member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences.
During these same busy years, there was time for literature. Feuilletons are published in Novoye Vremya and Russkie Vedomosti. The stories were published in "Russian Thought" (1886), "Bulletin of Europe" and "Northern Bulletin" (1890). The serious drama "Vae victis" in Swedish deserves its own chapter.
"Michelangelo of Conversation"
This is how Swedish friends respectfully called Sofya Vasilievna. She did not limit her life to science. Rich imagination resulted in poetic lines. Her concern for the social order made her a publicist. An excellent psychologist, she managed to formalize her subtle observations in the form of several stories and the main book “The Struggle for Happiness.” The work also has a second title, “Two Parallel Dramas”; it was written in collaboration with the Swedish writer K. Leffler-Cayanello. It was based on a hypothesis put forward by S.V. Its essence is as follows.
The scientific theory behind the play
Despite the predetermination of people's actions, there is always a crossroads in life. And then what happens next depends on the person himself, on which path he chooses. This is how the book is structured: the fate of the same characters is shown in two worlds - “as it was” and “as it could have been.” Underneath the hypothesis lay Poincaré's serious work on differentials. equations Simplified it looks like this. Integrals of solutions of some differential equations are curves with branches at isolated points. The phenomenon flows along this curve, but at the bifurcation point it acquires uncertainty. To select one of the two branches, an additional condition is required.
A huge place in the drama is occupied by the theme of love, which should become all-consuming. After all, it is love that gives life energy and strength - “Life is love.”
Giftedness did not bring women happiness
First of all, a woman, Sophia always sought intimate affection, but fate was not kind to her. Along with the recognition of success in science, each time there came disappointment and the collapse of hopes for a happy personal life. The birth of her daughter in 1878 coincided with a difficult period in her relationship with her husband. He died voluntarily, confused in his financial affairs. Fate gave me a meeting with another close person, a namesake, a teacher at Moscow University and European universities, Maxim Maksimovich. Always independent in decisions, she valued his opinion very much. So, at his insistence, a touching book of childhood memories was written. But he wanted to see next to him not the “goddess of mathematics on the throne,” but caring wife. She couldn't quit her scientific studies. And yet, this time love seems to have won... Only death turned out to be stronger. Sophia seemed to have a presentiment of something, planning to write a philosophical work “When there will be no more death.” But I didn’t have time. A common cold unexpectedly led to a quick end.
There is no prophet in his own country
The work of the Russian scientist has not lost its relevance even after a century. But Russia, as has happened more than once in history, did not recognize the genius during his lifetime. Looking through the chronology, it is easy to see that the main results scientific activity Kovalevskaya became the property of foreign universities and academies, most of all Swedish ones. Russian scientists well understood the significance of their compatriot’s work. An exception was made for her, unprecedented in Russia at the end of the 19th century - the election of a woman as a corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. True, officials hastened to “correct the mistake.” She was constantly eager to return home from Germany and Sweden. Returning to St. Petersburg, she, as a corresponding member. wished to attend the meeting, hoping to be elected a member of the Academy of Sciences. The answer sobered up Sofya Vasilievna and reminded her of the country in which she was born: “the presence of women at meetings is not in the customs of the Academy.” The insult reached its goal, Kovalevskaya returned to Stockholm.
S.V. Kovalevskaya died in Stockholm from pneumonia at the age of 41.
Sofia Kovalevskaya's immortal contribution to science
A complete list of works cannot be contained in this short essay. Here are the main ones that have not lost their relevance more than a century later (for example, the Cauchy-Kovalevskaya theorem is used in the majorization method).
First works. Sophia is 24 years old:
- "Towards the theory of partial differential equations"
- "Additions and comments to Laplace's study on the shape of Saturn's ring"
- "On the reduction of one class of Abelian integrals of the third rank to elliptic integrals"
At Stockholm University. Sophia is 38 years old:
· "The problem of the rotation of a rigid body around a fixed point." After the work of Euler and Lagrange, this work advanced the solution of the problem for the first time.
- In the "Mathematical Collection", vol. XVI, 1891, abstracts by N. E. Zhukovsky, P. A. Nekrasov and A. G. Stoletov were published, dedicated to the mathematical works of the Russian scientist.
Monuments to S.V. Kovalevskaya
The best monument to Kovalevskaya, according to Russian scientists, would be the publication of her works in Russian.
- In the year of the 50th anniversary of his death (1940), a collection appeared with translations of the main works under common name"On the rotation of a rigid body", edited by S. A. Chaplygin and N. I. Mertsalov.
- Kovalevskaya S.V. Scientific works. USSR Academy of Sciences, 1948. - 370 p.
- Kovalevskaya S.V. Memories. Stories. Science, 1974.
The year 2000 was declared by UNESCO as the year of Sofia Kovalevskaya. Her memory is immortalized in Sweden and at home, in Russia. This is the Kovalevskaya museum-estate in Polibino, a monument on Kovalevskaya’s grave (it was installed in 1896 with funds raised by the Committee of the Higher Women’s Courses and other women’s organizations in Russia).
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