Remembering Sofya Kovalevskaya

Abstract

Back before I had read the article on the solid in detail, I mentioned to a colleague that it must be an exceptional piece of work, since the Academy of sciences had increased the amount of the Bordin prize. “Oh, not at all, it was to help her out, because she did not have a position”, was the reply he gave me. A bit of condescension once again and a subtle way of putting down work whose exceptional quality was, in fact, recognized by the Academy. And anyway, it was not quite true that Sofya did not have a position. At the time when the Bordin prize was declared in 1886, as well as at the time when it was awarded in 1888, Sofya had a professorial position in Stockholm and was receiving a salary, even if her position was not yet permanent.