Contents
Sofya Kovalevskaya
Making major advances in differential equations and becoming a pioneering woman professor of mathematics.
Differential equations · The spinning top
- Born
- 15 January 1850
- Birthplace
- Moscow, Russia
- Died
- 10 February 1891
More people
Sofya Kovalevskaya
Kovalevskaya overcame restrictions on women’s education to build a research career in Germany and Sweden. Her work explained when certain equations have solutions and uncovered a new case of rigid-body motion.
Early life
Private education
Grew up in Russia and studied mathematics with private tutors.
Leaving to study
A marriage to Vladimir Kovalevsky enabled her to travel abroad, where she pursued university-level mathematics.
Career
- 1874
Göttingen doctorate
Earned a doctorate based on research completed under Karl Weierstrass, who had taught her privately.
- 1884
Stockholm appointment
Began a five-year mathematics professorship and worked as an editor of Acta Mathematica.
- 1889
Full professor
Was appointed to a permanent full professorship at Stockholm.
Contributions
Differential equations
Her doctoral work contributed to the Cauchy–Kovalevskaya theorem on the existence of solutions.
The spinning top
Won the Bordin Prize for discovering a new solvable case of a rotating rigid body.
A Russian Childhood
Published autobiographical writing alongside her mathematical career.
Beyond mathematics
Literary interests
Wrote fiction and collaborated on plays with Anne Charlotte Leffler.
Women’s education
Her career challenged institutions that refused women admission or academic employment.
Sources & photo credit
Life, career and references ↗University of St Andrews biography ↗Photo: Unknown author Unknown author. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
