Enrichment of Presidential Library's collections with materials dedicated to Sofia Kovalevskaya's life

The name of Sofya Kovalevskaya is often associated with the words "first" and "pioneering". She was the world's first woman to become a professor of mathematics, the first woman in Russia to hold this position, and the first woman corresponding member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. However, not everyone is aware that Sofya Kovalevskaya was also a talented author, writing about love, friendship, sacrifice, and human relations with the same passion as she approached mathematics.

Recently, the Presidential Library's collections have been enriched with a digital copy of Sofya Kovalevskaya's novel, The Nihilist, which was originally published in Sweden in 1892 after her death. It was later translated into Russian and published in Russia only in 1906, after having been banned for many years.

The book Sofya Kovalevskaya: Memoirs of A.K. Leffler, Duchess of Cianello, published in 1893, is another addition to the Presidential Library's collection. The book is available on the library's portal. The Swedish author, a close friend of Sofya Kovalevskaya, shares with readers not only her own experiences with Kovalevskaya but also Kovalevskaya's own stories.

In Memoirs, Anna Leffler tells the story of Sofya's arranged marriage, which was initially intended for the purpose of studying abroad but later became a real marriage; it also covers Kovalevskaya's award of a PhD in mathematics at age 24 and her return home to teach at a girls' school; and it concludes with the suicide of Kovalevskaya's husband and Kovalevskaya's work at Stockholm University.

Anna Leffler did not just write about "Professor Sonya," as the students called Kovalevskaya. She was looking for an explanation for why she did not have the happiness she dreamed of all her life.

In her memoirs, she describes a friendly meeting with the Scandinavian writer Jonas Lee. Jonas Lee started talking about Kovalevskaya not as a scientist, but as a little girl, Tanya Rayevskaya. He learned to love her from the book Kovalevskaya wrote, From Russian Life. The Rayevsky Sisters, where Sofya Vasilyevna was the prototype for the main character. This autobiographical work, published in Russia under the title Childhood Memories, is also available on the Presidential Library's portal.

Anna Leffler writes that, after returning from Lee, Kovalevskaya was in a happier state of mind than she had been in for a long time. She describes how she felt like there was finally someone who understood her. This person, who knew nothing about her personal life and relationships, and who had only seen her a few times, was able to read her like a book and understand her on a deeper level than most people who considered themselves her friends and knew her for years. She concludes that literary activity can still bring joy and that it is worth living for.

To learn more about the life and work of Sofya Kovalevskaya, please refer to the materials of the section Persons of Russia on the portal of the Presidential Library.