Mathematics
Place of Birth: Moscow
Family status: married to Vladimir Onufrievich Kovalevsky (1868-1883), maiden name: Sofya Vasilievna Korvin-Krukovskaya
Activities and interests: mathematics, mechanics; literary creativity, fiction
Education, degrees and titles
1869, University of Heidelberg (Germany)
1870-1874, University of Berlin
Job
1884-1891, Stockholm University: Professor of Mathematics
Discoveries
In 1888 she received the prestigious Borden Prize for the discovery of the third classical case of solvability of the problem of the rotation of a rigid body around a fixed point. In view of the seriousness of the discovery, the premium was increased from 3 to 5 thousand francs. And today four algebraic integrals exist only in three classical cases: Leonard Euler, Lagrange and Kovalevskaya.
Proved the existence of an analytical solution to the Cauchy problem for systems differential equations with partial derivatives.
She studied Laplace's problem of the equilibrium of Saturn's ring and obtained a second approximation.
Biography
Russian mathematician and mechanic, the first female professor in Russia and the first female professor of mathematics in the world. She studied abroad, since in Russia at that time women were in higher education. educational establishments were not accepted. She was engaged in research in the field of the theory of rotation of a rigid body. Author of many scientific works, Doctor of Philosophy (University of Gottingen, 1874). Since 1881 - member of the Moscow Mathematical Society. For the discovery of the third classical case of solvability of the problem of the rotation of a rigid body around a fixed point, she received prizes from the Paris (1888) and Swedish (1889) Academies of Sciences. In 1889, she was elected a corresponding member of the physics and mathematics department of the Russian Academy of Sciences. She sympathized with revolutionary ideas and, in the besieged Paris of 1871, looked after the wounded communards. She helped rescue Paris Commune activist Victor Jacqulard from prison. Author of several literary works, fiction - wrote in Russian and Swedish. Many works are autobiographical in nature, and the main character has recognizable features of Kovalevskaya herself. She also wrote poetry and translated from Swedish.
Russian empire
World's first female professor of mathematics
Sofya Vasilievna Kovalevskaya(née Korvin-Krukovskaya; January 3, Moscow - January 29 [February 10], Stockholm) - 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 “The Nihilist” (1884).
Biography
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 even more famous astronomer. Born in Moscow in January 1850. 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). 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). In 1866, Kovalevskaya traveled abroad for the first time, and then lived in St. Petersburg, where she took lessons mathematical analysis by 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.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.
She proved the existence of an analytical (holomorphic) solution to the Cauchy problem for systems of partial differential equations, studied Laplace's problem of the equilibrium of the ring of Saturn, and obtained a second approximation.
In 1889 she received big bonus Paris Academy for research on the rotation of a heavy asymmetrical top.
The most famous of Kovalevskaya’s mathematical works are: “Zur Theorie der partiellen Differentialgleichungen” (1874, “Journal für die reine und angewandte Mathematik”, volume 80); “Ueber die Reduction einer bestimmten Klasse Abel’scher Integrale 3-ten Ranges auf elliptische Integrale” (“Acta Mathematica”, 4); "Zusätze und Bemerkungen zu Laplace's Untersuchung ü ber die Gestalt der Saturnsringe" (1885, "Astronomische Nachrichten", vol. CXI); “Ueber die Brechung des Lichtes in cristallinischen Medien” (“Acta mathematica” 6.3); “Sur le problème de la rotation d’un corps solide autour d’un point fixe” (1889, “Acta mathematica”, 12.2); “Sur une proprieté du système d’equations differentielles qui definit la rotation d’un corps solide autour d’un point fix e” (1890, “Acta mathematica”, 14.1). Abstracts about mathematical works were written by A. G. Stoletov, N. E. Zhukovsky and P. A. Nekrasov in the “Mathematical Collection”, volume XVI published and separately (M., 1891).
Literary activity
Thanks to her outstanding mathematical talents, Kovalevskaya reached the top of the scientific field. But her nature was lively and passionate, she did not find satisfaction in abstract mathematical research and manifestations of official fame alone. First of all, a woman, she always craved intimate affection. In this regard, however, fate was not very kind to her and it was precisely the years of her greatest glory, when the award of the Paris Prize to a woman drew the attention of the whole world to her, were for her years of deep spiritual anguish and broken hopes for happiness. 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. Literary talent awakened in her late, and premature death did not allow her to sufficiently determine this new side a wonderful, deeply and diversely educated woman. In Russian, from K.’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 S.V.K.” (SPb., 1893).
Memoirs of the Polish 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. But 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 Leffler-Edgren, but entirely according to Kovalevskaya’s thoughts, she wanted to depict the fate and development of the same people from two opposing points of view, “how it was” and “how it could have been” " 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 such moments in life can appear when different opportunities for certain actions present themselves, and then life develops in different ways, in accordance with that. which path will anyone choose?
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 proceed along (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 depicted herself, and many of the phrases spoken by Alice, many of her expressions were taken entirely from Kovalevskaya’s own lips. 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. “Memoirs 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.
Family (known representatives)
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.
Memory
- Kovalevskaya (crater)
- Kovalevskaya Street and Sofia Kovalevskaya Street are the names of streets in many cities of the former USSR.
In books
- Alice Munro's collection of short stories, Too Much Happiness (2009), provides a brief literary biography Kovalevskaya
To the cinema
- - “Sofya Kovalevskaya” (film-play, directed by Joseph Shapiro)
- - “Sofya Kovalevskaya” (television film, directed by Ayan Shakhmalieva)
- - “Dostoevsky” (7-episode television film) - Elizaveta Arzamasova
Notes
Literature
- Polubarinova-Kochina P. Ya. Sofya Vasilievna Kovalevskaya. 1850-1891: Her life and work. - M.: Gostekhizdat, 1955. - 100 p. - (People of Russian science).
- "Mathematicians, Mechanics" - biographical reference book. M., 1983.
- Malinin V.V. Sofia Kovalevskaya is a female mathematician. Her life and scientific activities. - CIT SSGA, 2004.
see also
Links
- Kovalevskaya S.V. - Prepared by A. Krukovsky based on materials from Internet sites.
- Kovalevskaya Sofya Vasilievna - Mathematics on-line. To help the student. Scientists.
- Kovalevskaya Sofya Vasilievna (1850-1891) - Mathematics for everyone: Scientists.
- Kovalevskaya Sofya Vasilievna - website "CHRONOS".
- Sofya Vasilievna Kovalevskaya - Erudite website.
- Kovalevskaya Sofya Vasilievna - historical encyclopedia.
- Kovalevskaya, Sofya Vasilievna- article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia
- Polibino Memorial Museum-Estate of S. V. Kovalevskaya
Categories:
- Personalities in alphabetical order
- Scientists by alphabet
- Born on January 15
- Born in 1850
- Born in Moscow
- Deaths on February 10
- Died in 1891
- Deaths in Stockholm
- Mathematicians by alphabet
- Mathematicians of Russia
- 19th century mathematicians
- Mechanics of Russia
- Writers Russia XIX century
- Women scientists
- Korvin-Krukovsky
- Kovalevsky
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Corresponding members of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences
- Memoirists of the Russian Empire
- The first women in the profession
- Died from influenza
- Buried in Stockholm
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
short biography
Sofia Kovalevskaya
Kovalevskaya Sofya Vasilievna
(nee Korvin-Krukovskaya)
(1850-1891), mathematician.
Born January 15, 1850in Moscow in the family of artillery general Korvin-Krukovsky. When Sophia was six years old, her father retired and settled on the family estate of Palibino, Vitebsk province.
A teacher was hired for the girl's classes. The only subject in which the future scientist showed neither special interest nor ability in the first classes was arithmetic. However, gradually she developed serious abilities for mathematics.
To get an education, in 1868 she married paleontologist Vladimir Kovalevsky and went with him to Germany. Here she studied mathematics at the University of Heidelberg and in 1871–1874 attended lectures in Berlin by Professor Weierstrass, who gave the direction of her further mathematical work.
In 1874 After defending her dissertation, the University of Göttingen awarded her a doctorate.
In 1881 . Kovalevskaya was elected a member of the Moscow Mathematical Society. After the death of her husband, she moved with her daughter to Stockholm (1884) and received the chair of mathematics at Stockholm University, with an obligationreadLectures in the first year are in German, and in the second year in Swedish.
Kovalevskaya quickly mastered the Swedish language and published her mathematical works in it.
In 1888 . The Paris Academy of Sciences awarded her a prize for her research into rotation. solid near a fixed point.
In 1889 For two essays related to previous work, Kovalevskaya received the Stockholm Academy Prize and became a corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.
In April 1890 Sofya Vasilievna returned to Russia in the hope that she would be elected as a member of the academy to replace the one who died in 1889.mathematicsV. Ya. Bunyakovsky and she will acquire financial independence, which would allow her to engage in science in her homeland. But when Kovalevskaya wished, as a corresponding member, to attend the scientific meetings, she was told that the participation of women in them was “not in the customs of the Academy.”
As the first woman professor of mathematics, Kovalevskaya is a person who contributed greatly to the success of the women's movement in Europe. Scientific achievements, recognized by several universities and three academies, provided the scientific community of that time with undoubted evidence of women’s ability for fruitful scientific and intellectual activity.
I felt so strongly attracted to mathematics that I began to neglect other subjects.
Kovalevskaya Sofya Vasilievna
« When Pythagoras discovered his famous theorem, he sacrificed 100 bulls to the gods. Since then, all the animals have been afraid of the new...»
(Sofia Kovalevskaya)
« I inherited a passion for science from my ancestor, the Hungarian King Matthew Corvinus; love of mathematics, music and poetry - from my mother’s paternal grandfather, the astronomer Schubert; personal love of freedom - from Poland; from a gypsy great-grandmother - a love of vagrancy and an inability to obey accepted customs; the rest is from Russia».
(Sofia Kovalevskaya)
« Her outstanding abilities, love of mathematics, unusually pretty appearance and great modesty endeared her to everyone she met. There was just something charming about her. All the professors with whom she 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. Her moral character was complemented by a deep and complex spiritual psyche, which I have never subsequently been able to meet in anyone».
(Yulia Lermontova)
«… If I manage to solve the problem I am dealing with, then my name will be included among the names of the most outstanding mathematicians. According to my calculations, I need another five years to achieve good results».
(Sofia Kovalevskaya)
« As for Kovalevskaya’s mathematical education, I had very few students who could compare with her in diligence, ability, diligence and passion for science».
(Professor Weierstrass)
Sofya Vasilievna wrote poetry.
S.V. Kovalevskaya
IF YOU ARE IN LIFE...
If you are in life even for a moment
I felt the truth in your heart,
If there is a ray of truth through darkness and doubt
Your path was illuminated with a bright radiance:
So that, in your unchangeable decision,
Fate has not ordained for you ahead,
The memory of this sacred moment
Keep it forever like a shrine in your chest.
The clouds will gather in a discordant mass,
The sky will be covered with black haze -
With clear determination, with calm faith
You meet the storm and face the thunderstorm.
Lying ghosts, evil visions
They will try to lead you astray;
Salvation against all enemy machinations
In your own heart you can find;
If a holy spark is stored in it,
You are omnipotent and omnipotent, but know
Woe to you if you yield to your enemies,
Let me kidnap her by accident!
It would have been better for you not to have been born,
It would be better not to know the truth at all,
Rather than, knowing, give up on her,
Why sell the championship for stew?
After all, the formidable gods are jealous and strict,
Their verdict is clear, there is only one solution:
A lot will be exacted from that person,
To whom many talents were given.
You know the harsh word in scripture:
A person will ask for forgiveness for everything;
But only for sin against the Holy Spirit
There is no forgiveness and there never will be.
REPORT
Great mathematicians
The first woman mathematician - Sofia Kovalevskaya.
(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 does the girl have early age have an interest in mathematics? 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 difficult challenges for his talented student. math problems. 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.
Is it true, Russian laws allowed a woman 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 Sofia 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 and conducts literary activities. 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 last years this is 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.
Date of Birth: |
|
Place of Birth: |
Moscow, Russian Empire |
Date of death: |
|
A place of death: |
Stockholm, Sweden |
Scientific field: |
Mathematics, mechanics |
Place of work: |
Stockholm University |
Alma mater: |
Heidelberg University, University of Berlin |
Scientific adviser: |
K. T. W. Weierstrass |
Known as: |
World's first female professor of mathematics |
Scientific activity
Printed publications
(née Korvin-Krukovskaya) (January 3 (15), 1850, Moscow - January 29 (February 10), 1891, Stockholm) - 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).
Biography
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. Born in Moscow in January 1850. 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). 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 “Russian Antiquity” (December 1890). In 1866, Kovalevskaya traveled 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, Kovalevskaya married Vladimir Onufrievich Kovalevsky, and the newlyweds went abroad.
In 1869 she studied at the University of Heidelberg with Königsberger, and from 1870 to 1874 at the University of Berlin with K. T. W. Weierstrass. Although, according to the rules of the university, as a woman she could not listen to lectures, Weierstrass, interested in her mathematical talents, supervised her classes.
She sympathized with the revolutionary struggle and the ideas of utopian socialism, so 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 demanded that the fictitious marriage not develop into a real one, and therefore the husband had to move to another apartment, and then to another city altogether. This situation weighed heavily on both of them, and in the end, in 1874, the fictitious marriage became actual.
In 1874, the University of Göttingen, upon defense of a dissertation (“Zur Theorie der partiellen Differentialgleichungen”), awarded Kovalevskaya the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
In 1878, the Kovalevskys had a daughter.
In 1879 she made a presentation at the VI Congress of Naturalists in St. Petersburg. In 1881 Kovalevskaya was elected a member of the Moscow Mathematical Society (privat associate professor).
After her husband's suicide (1883) (confused in his business affairs) Kovalevskaya, left without funds with her five-year-old daughter, comes to Berlin and stops at Weierstrass. At a price huge efforts, using all his authority and connections, Weierstrass manages to secure a place for her at Stockholm University (1884). Having changed her name to Sonya Kovalevsky, she becomes a professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Stockholm (Högskola), with the obligation to lecture in German for the first year, and in Swedish from the second. Soon Kovalevskaya mastered the Swedish language and published her mathematical works and fiction in this language.
In 1888 - laureate of the Paris Academy of Sciences Prize for the discovery of the third classical case of solvability of the problem of the rotation of a rigid body around a fixed point. The second work on the same topic in 1889 is awarded a prize Swedish Academy Sciences, and Kovalevskaya is elected corresponding member of the Physics and Mathematics Department Russian Academy Sci.
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, Sophia caught a cold. The cold turned into pneumonia.
On January 29, 1891, Kovalevskaya, at the age of 41, died in Stockholm from pneumonia. She died in the Swedish capital in all alone without having anyone nearby loved one. She was buried in Stockholm, at the Northern Cemetery.
Scientific activity
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 of the problem begun by 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, and celestial mechanics.
In 1889 she received a major prize from the Paris Academy for her research on the rotation of a heavy asymmetrical top.
The most famous of Kovalevskaya’s mathematical works are: “Zur Theorie der partiellen Differentialgleichungen” (1874, “Journal für die reine und angewandte Mathematik”, volume 80); “Ueber die Reduction einer bestimmten Klasse Abel’scher Integrale 3-ten Ranges auf elliptische Integrale” (“Acta Mathematica”, 4); “Zusätze und Bemerkungen zu Laplace’s Untersuchung ü ber die Gestalt der Saturnsringe” (1885, “Astronomische Nachrichten”, vol. CXI); “Ueber die Brechung des Lichtes in cristallinischen Medien” (“Acta Mathematica” 6.3); “Sur le problème de la rotation d’un corps solide autour d’un point fixe” (1889, “Acta Mathematica”, 12.2); “Sur une proprieté du système d’equations differentielles qui definit la rotation d’un corps solide autour d’un point fix e” (1890, “Acta Mathematica”, 14.1). Abstracts about mathematical works were written by A. G. Stoletov, N. E. Zhukovsky and P. A. Nekrasov in the “Mathematical Collection”, volume XVI published and separately (M., 1891).
Literary activity
Thanks to her outstanding mathematical talents, Kovalevskaya reached the top of the scientific field. But her nature was lively and passionate, she did not find satisfaction in abstract mathematical research and manifestations of official fame alone. First of all, a woman, she always craved intimate affection. In this regard, however, fate was not very kind to her and it was precisely the years of her greatest glory, when the award of the Paris Prize to a woman drew the attention of the whole world to her, were for her years of deep spiritual anguish and broken hopes for happiness. 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. Literary talent awakened in her late, and her premature death did not allow this new side of a remarkable, deeply and diversely educated woman to be sufficiently defined. In Russian, from K.’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 a 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 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. But 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 Leffler-Edgren, but entirely according to Kovalevskaya’s thoughts, she wanted to depict the fate and development of the same people from two opposing points of view, “how it was” and “how it could have been” " 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 such moments in life can appear when different opportunities for certain actions present themselves, and then life develops in different ways, in accordance with that. which path will anyone choose?
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 proceed along (see also Catastrophe Theory (mathematics)). According to Leffler (her memories of Kovalevskaya in “The Kiev Collection to Help Those Victims of Harvest”, Kiev, 1892), in the main female figure of this double drama, Alice, Kovalevskaya depicted herself, and many of the phrases spoken by Alice, many of her expressions were taken entirely from Kovalevskaya’s own lips. 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. “Memoirs 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.
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 - F.V. Korvin-Krukovsky, general
Memory
- Kovalevskaya (crater)
- Sofia Kovalevskaya School
- Kovalevskaya Street
- Sofia Kovalevskaya Street (St. Petersburg)
To the cinema
- 1956 - “Sofya Kovalevskaya” (film-play, directed by Joseph Shapiro)
- 1985 - “Sofya Kovalevskaya” (television film, directed by Ayan Shakhmalieva)
- 2011 - “Dostoevsky” (7-episode television film) - Elizaveta Arzamasova
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