MINSK, 3 April (BelTA) - In a new episode of the V Teme. Nashi [On Point. The Nation’s Pride] project on BelTA’s YouTube channel we look into the question: Was Sofya Kovalevskaya born ahead her time?
Is the phenomenon of Sofya Kovalevskaya a product of her era, or did everything she do run counter to the rules and norms of the 19th century? “People say she was born ahead of her time. Had she been born even ten years later, when women were already allowed to study, maybe things would have come sooner. But someone had to be first. She had a very determined and strong belief in what she was doing. So I think she was exactly where she needed to be, a pioneer for women in science,” Academic Secretary of the National academy of Science of Belarus Tatiana Busel said.
A few years after Kovalevskaya left for Europe, women were also allowed to study at universities in Russia. Could the young scientist’s example have spurred that change? Tatiana Busel believes that Kovalevskaya’s achievements may have served as a catalyst. “When she returned to Russia from Europe after earning her doctorate, she initiated the creation of women’s courses. Yet paradoxically, she was not allowed to teach there. She always asserted she really wanted to work in Russia. She got her degree, then with her husband came back to Russia. What for? To work there. She arrives and says, ‘Here, I have a profession, I have a diploma.’ And they said no,” Tatiana Busel noted.
Sofya Kovalevskaya fought the system, trying to push progress. “I think Kovalevskaya’s story happened not because of the time she lived in, but rather despite it. She was the first female professor in Europe, she returned to her homeland. Her life was an act of validation that a woman can also succeed. It was proof that women, biologically and intellectually, can prosper in science on equal terms with men. She was not afraid to go against her father to study mathematics. She was not afraid to defy social norms and use a legal trick to go abroad. That shows she was capable of radical decisions, decisions ahead of her time. To follow her dream, she was ready to go against social norms. This is a mark of a very strong, progressive person who dreams and knows what she wants in life,”cognitive behavioral therapist, psychologist Alena Petrovskaya emphasized.
Could Kovalevskaya have devoted herself to anything other than mathematics, or was her passion driven by inner desire? “Mathematics requires rational thinking, and the way Sofya acted, we can call it cognitive flexibility. That flexibility in thinking allowed her to make new discoveries in mathematics, to go against her father’s opinion and society’s opinion,” the psychologist believes.
A few years after Kovalevskaya left for Europe, women were also allowed to study at universities in Russia. Could the young scientist’s example have spurred that change? Tatiana Busel believes that Kovalevskaya’s achievements may have served as a catalyst. “When she returned to Russia from Europe after earning her doctorate, she initiated the creation of women’s courses. Yet paradoxically, she was not allowed to teach there. She always asserted she really wanted to work in Russia. She got her degree, then with her husband came back to Russia. What for? To work there. She arrives and says, ‘Here, I have a profession, I have a diploma.’ And they said no,” Tatiana Busel noted.
Sofya Kovalevskaya fought the system, trying to push progress. “I think Kovalevskaya’s story happened not because of the time she lived in, but rather despite it. She was the first female professor in Europe, she returned to her homeland. Her life was an act of validation that a woman can also succeed. It was proof that women, biologically and intellectually, can prosper in science on equal terms with men. She was not afraid to go against her father to study mathematics. She was not afraid to defy social norms and use a legal trick to go abroad. That shows she was capable of radical decisions, decisions ahead of her time. To follow her dream, she was ready to go against social norms. This is a mark of a very strong, progressive person who dreams and knows what she wants in life,”cognitive behavioral therapist, psychologist Alena Petrovskaya emphasized.
Could Kovalevskaya have devoted herself to anything other than mathematics, or was her passion driven by inner desire? “Mathematics requires rational thinking, and the way Sofya acted, we can call it cognitive flexibility. That flexibility in thinking allowed her to make new discoveries in mathematics, to go against her father’s opinion and society’s opinion,” the psychologist believes.
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