Sofia was born January, 15 in 1850 in Moscow. She didn’t go to school and studied at home. At various times, her governesses and teachers were native speakers of English, French, and German. When she was 11 years old she got interested in mathematics because the wall of her room had been papered with pages from mathematical lectures.
Despite her obvious talent for mathematics, she could not complete her education in Russia. At that time, women were not allowed to attend universities in Russia. So at the age of 19 she moved from Russia to Germany to study at the university and take private lessons.
At the age of 24 she presented her doctoral dissertation and earned her a doctorate in mathematics. Kovalevskaya thereby became the first woman to have been awarded a doctorate in mathematics.
« It’s impossible to be a mathematician without being a poet in soul » Sofia Kovalevskaya
In 1889 Kovalevskaya was appointed Ordinary Professor (full professor) at Stockholm University, the first woman in Europe in modern times to hold such a position. Sofia would struggle for most of her adult life to gain the same privileges to study and teach mathematics as her male counterparts did. Despite this struggle, she would become a highly regarded math professor and was the first woman to receive a doctorate in mathematics and the first woman in Europe to become a full-time professor
The Kovalevsaya Fund, founded in 1985 to support women in science in developing countries, was named in her honor. Saint Petersburg, Moscow, and Stockholm have streets named in honor of Kovalevskaya. The lunar crater Kovalevskaya is named in her honor.
