Kovalevskaya Sofia Vasilievna was born on January 3, 1850 in Moscow. Her mother was Elisabeth Schubert. Father, General of Artillery Korvin-Krukovsky, at the time of the birth of his daughter, served as head of the arsenal. When the girl was six, he retired, settling in the family estate. Let's consider further, thanks to which Sofia Kovalevskaya is known.
Biography: childhood
After the whole family (parents and two daughters) settled in the father's family estate, a teacher was hired for the girl. The only subject in which the future professor of mathematics showed neither special interest nor any abilities was arithmetic. However, over time, the situation has changed dramatically. The study of arithmetic lasted up to 10 and a half years. Subsequently, Sofia Kovalevskaya believed that it was this period that gave her the basis of all knowledge. The girl studied the subject very well and quickly solved all the problems. Her teacher Malevich, before starting algebra, allowed her to study Bourdon's arithmetic (a two-volume course thattaught at that time at the University of Paris). One of the neighbors, noting the success of the girl, recommended her father to hire a lieutenant of the fleet Strannolyubsky to continue her education. The new teacher at the first lesson in differential calculus was surprised at the speed with which Sonya learned the concepts of derivative and limit.
Fake marriage
In 1863, pedagogical courses were opened at the Mariinsky Gymnasium, which included verbal and natural-mathematical departments. Sisters Anna and Sophia dreamed of getting there. But the problem was that unmarried girls were not enrolled in the gymnasium. Therefore, they were forced to conclude a fictitious marriage. Vladimir Kovalevsky was chosen as Anna's fiancé. However, the wedding between them never took place. On one of the dates, he told Anna that he was ready to marry, but with her sister, Sonya. After some time, he was introduced into the house and became, with the consent of his father, the bridegroom of the second sister. At that time he was 26, and Sophia was 18 years old.
New life stage
No one imagined then what tasks Sofya Kovalevskaya would cope with after her wedding. The biography of her husband amazed with its fascination anyone who met him. He began to earn money at the age of 16, making translations of foreign novels for the merchants of Gostiny Dvor. Kovalevsky had an amazing memory, extraordinary activity and humanitarian abilities. He categorically refused official service, choosing publishing in St. Petersburg instead. It was he who printed and translated literature,which was highly demanded by the progressive people of the country. Having moved with her husband and sister to St. Petersburg, Sofya Kovalevskaya secretly began to attend lectures. She decided to give all her strength only to science. The only thing that Sofia Kovalevskaya wanted to do was mathematics. Having passed the exam and received a matriculation certificate, she again returned to Strannolyubsky. With him, she began to study science in depth, planning to continue her activities abroad.
Education
In early April 1869, Sofya Kovalevskaya with her sister and husband left for Vienna. There were geologists needed then by Vladimir Onufrievich. However, there were no strong scientists in Vienna. Therefore, Kovalevskaya decides to go to Heidelberg. In her mind, it was the promised land for students. After overcoming a number of difficulties, the commission nevertheless allowed Sophia to listen to lectures on physics and mathematics. For three semesters, she attended the course of Koenigsberger, who taught the theory of elliptic functions. In addition, she listened to lectures on physics and mathematics by Kirchhoff, Helmholtz, Dubois Reymond, worked in the laboratory under the guidance of the chemist Bunsen. All these people were then the most famous scientists in Germany. The teachers were amazed at the abilities that Kovalevskaya possessed. Sofia Vasilievna worked very hard. She quickly enough mastered all the initial elements that allowed her to start independent research. She received rave reviews about herself from Koenigsberger to his teacher, the greatest scientist of that time, Karl Weierstrass. The latter was called by his contemporaries"great analyst".
Working with Weierstrass
Sofya Kovalevskaya, in the name of her chosen higher destiny, overcame fear and shyness and at the beginning of October 1870 went to Berlin. Professor Weierstrass was not in the mood for a conversation and, in order to get rid of the visitor, gave her several problems from the field of hyperbolic functions, inviting her in a week. Having managed to forget about the visit, the scientist did not expect to see Kovalevskaya at the appointed time. She appeared on the threshold and announced that all tasks had been solved. After a while, Weierstrass petitioned for Kovalevskaya to be allowed to listen to mathematical lectures. However, the consent of the high council could not be achieved. At the University of Berlin, not only did they not enroll women as students. They were not even allowed to attend lectures as free listeners. Therefore, Kovalevskaya had to confine herself to private studies with Weierstrass. As contemporaries noted, an outstanding scientist usually overwhelmed his listeners with mental superiority. But the inquisitiveness and craving for knowledge of Kovalevskaya demanded from Weierstrass increased activity. He himself often had to solve various problems in order to adequately answer the rather difficult questions of his student. Contemporaries noted that one should be grateful to Kovalevskaya for the fact that she was able to bring Weierstrass out of isolation.
First independent work
It explored the question of the balance of the ring of Saturn. Before Kovalevskaya, this task was handled by Laplace(French astronomer, physicist and mathematician). In his work, he considered the ring of Saturn as a complex of several subtle elements that do not affect each other. In the course of research, he found that in cross section it is presented in the form of an ellipse. However, this solution was only the first and very simplified. Kovalevskaya set about research to more accurately establish the balance of the ring. She determined that in cross section, one should be presented in the form of an oval.
Thesis
From the beginning of the winter of 1873 to the spring of 1874, Kovalevskaya studied partial differential equations. She intended to present the work in the form of a doctoral dissertation. Her work was admired in scientific circles. A little later, however, it was found that Augustin Cauchy, an outstanding French scientist, had already carried out a similar study. But in her work, Kovalevskaya gave the theorem a form that is perfect in its simplicity, rigor, and accuracy. Therefore, the problem began to be called the "Koshi-Kovalevskaya theorem". It is included in all basic analysis courses. Of particular interest was the analysis of the heat equation. In the study, Kovalevskaya revealed the existence of special cases. It was a significant discovery for that time. This marked the end of her apprenticeship. The Council of the University of Göttingen awarded her the degree of Doctor of Mathematical Philosophy and Master of Fine Arts "with the highest praise".
Relationship with husband
In 1874 SophiaKovalevskaya came back to Russia. However, at that time there were terrible conditions in her homeland, which could not in any way allow her to do science the way she wanted. By that time, a fictitious marriage with her husband had become real. The first time they were in Germany, they lived in different cities, received education in different institutions. Communication with her husband was carried out through letters. However, the relationship subsequently took a different form. In 1878, the Kovalevskys had a daughter. After her birth, Sophia spent about six months in bed. Doctors no longer hoped for a recovery. The body still won, but the heart was struck by a serious illness.
The collapse of the family
Kovalevskaya had a husband, a child, a favorite pastime. It would seem that this should have been enough for complete happiness. But Kovalevskaya was characterized by maximalism in everything. She constantly made high demands on life and on everyone around her. She wanted to constantly hear vows of love from her husband, she wanted him to show her signs of attention all the time. But Kovalevsky did not. He was a different person, just as passionate about science as his wife. A complete collapse in the relationship came when they decided to do business. However, despite this, Kovalevskaya remained faithful to science. But in Russia, she could not continue to work. After the assassination of the king, the situation in the country deteriorated sharply. Sophia and her daughter went to Berlin, and her husband went to Odessa, to her brother. However, Vladimir Onufrievich became very confused in his commercial affairs and on the night of April 15-16, 1883 he shot himself. Kovalevskaya was in Paris when she received thisnews. After the funeral, returning to Berlin, she headed to Weierstrass.
Stockholm University
Weierstrass, having learned about the death of her husband Kovalevskaya, who always interfered with Sophia's plans to make science the goal of her life, wrote to Mitgag-Leffler, his colleague. In the letter, he said that now nothing prevents the student from being able to continue her activities. Soon Weierstrass was able to please Kovalevskaya with a positive response from Sweden. On January 30, 1884, she gave her first lecture. The course that Kovalevskaya taught in German was of a private nature. Nevertheless, he made her an excellent recommendation. At the end of June 1884, she received the news that she had been appointed to the position of professor for 5 years.
New Labor
More and more, the female professor went deeper into research work. Now she was studying one of the most difficult problems regarding the rotation of a rigid body. She believed that if she could solve it, then her name would be included among the most prominent scientists in the world. She calculated that it would take another 5 years to complete the task.
Writing activity
In the spring of 1886, Sofya Vasilievna received news of her sister's serious condition. She went home. Kovalevskaya returned to Stockholm with heavy feelings. In this state, she could not continue her research. However, she found a way to talk about her feelings, about herself, her thoughts. Literary work became the second important thing that Sofia Kovalevskaya was engaged in. The book she wrote inthat time with Anna-Charlotte Edgren-Lefler, so captivated her that she did not return to research during all this time.
Historic discovery
Recovering from the shocks, Kovalevskaya again returns to scientific work. She is trying to solve the problem of the rotation of a rigid heavy body around a static point. The problem is reduced to integrating a system of equations that always has three definite integrals. The problem is completely solved when the fourth one can be found. Before the discovery of Kovalevskaya, it was found twice. The scientists who investigated the problem were Lagrange and Euler. Kovalevskaya discovered the third case and the fourth integral to it. The solution in its entirety was rather complicated. Perfect knowledge of hyperelliptic functions helped to successfully cope with the task. And currently 4 algebraic integrals exist only in three cases: Lagrange, Euler and Kovalevskaya.
Borden Award
In 1888, on December 6, the Paris Academy sent a letter to Kovalevskaya. It said that she had been awarded the Borden Prize. It should be said that in the half century since its inception, only 10 people have become its owners. Moreover, all these ten times it was not awarded in full, but for separate, private decisions. Prior to the opening of Kovalevskaya, no one had been awarded this prize for three years in a row. A week after receiving the news, she arrived in Paris. The President of the Academy Jansen, an astronomer and physicist, warmly welcomed Sofya Vasilievna. He said that due to the severityresearch, the premium has been increased from 3,000 to 5,000 francs.
Swedish Academy Award
After receiving the Borden Prize, Kovalevskaya settled near Paris. Here she continued her research on the rotation of bodies for the competition for the King Oscar II award from the Swedish Academy. In the autumn, at the beginning of the semester at the university, she returned to Stockholm. The work went very quickly. Kovalevskaya wanted to have time to complete her research in order to submit her work to the competition. For her work, she received a bonus of one and a half thousand crowns.
Attempt to return to Russia
Despite her successes, nothing pleased Kovalevskaya. She went to treatment, but did not finish it. After a short period of time, her he alth deteriorated again. In this state, Kovalevskaya could not continue her research and again turned to the literature. She tried to drown out her longing for Russia with stories about people and her homeland. It was extremely unbearable for her to be in a foreign land. But, despite the overwhelming success, she did not have a chance to take a place in domestic universities. Hope appeared when, on November 7, 1888, she was elected a corresponding member of the Physics and Mathematics Department of the Russian Academy. In April 1890 she went home. Kovalevskaya hoped that she would be elected a member of the academy instead of the deceased Bunyakovsky. Thus, she could acquire financial independence, which would contribute to the continuation of research in her country.
Last years of life
In St. PetersburgKovalevskaya visited the President of the Russian Academy several times. Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich was always courteous and kind to her, saying that it would be great if she returned to her homeland. But when Kovalevskaya wanted to be present as a corresponding member at a meeting of the Academy, she was refused, because it was "not customary." She could not have been more insulted in Russia. In September, Kovalevskaya came back to Stockholm. On January 29, 1891, she died at the age of 41 from heart failure.
Conclusion
Kovalevskaya was an outstanding person. She was extremely demanding of everything that surrounded her. This is not an ordinary Russian mathematician and mechanic, this is a great scientist who devoted all his strength to science. It is sad to realize that in Russia at that time she was not given due attention, her merits were not recognized, despite her high popularity in scientific circles abroad. Not far from Velikiye Luki is the Museum of Sofia Kovalevskaya. Polibino was her small homeland, the place where her craving for science manifested itself.
