Overview

In 1868, a young Russian woman asked an emerging scientist, who supported the goal of expanding educational opportunities for women, to marry any one of the three women in his office for the sole purpose of helping them obtain passports. With his help, they planned to travel to where they could write or pursue higher education. The marriage was to be in name only, so it did not matter which of them he chose. He chose eighteen-year-old Sofia Korvin-Krukovskaya, whose dream was to earn a PhD in mathematics so that the doors to higher education might be opened to all women. She set this lofty goal for herself at a time when women were not allowed to travel without the permission of a father or husband - at a time when women were not allowed to set foot inside university classrooms. In Berlin, Sofia Kovalevskaya studied at the home of Karl Weierstrass, who became a dear friend and life-long mentor. After four years of hard work and intensive study, she produced three notable papers and was awarded the coveted PhD. In one of the letters Weierstrass wrote to her during their 23 years of correspondence, he told her that to be a great mathematician one must have the soul of a poet. The label mathematician with the soul of a poet has since become attached to Sofia Kovalevskaya. In addition to the many mathematical honors for which she is known, Kovalevskaya won praise for her collected writings. The extensive collection includes, most notably, memoirs of her childhood, a novella, nine poems and two plays. Sandra DeLozier Coleman, a math professor, artist and poet, was very much interested in looking for any connection between Weierstrass's statement and the poems written by Kovalevskaya. She began her translations of the poems before software tools commonly used today had been developed. At the time, she knew no Russian - not even the sounds or order of the letters in the Russian alphabet - but she was determined to learn as much as she needed to know to be able to translate the poems and plays. Mathematician with the Soul of a Poet begins with a chapter of engaging stories about Sandra DeLozier Coleman's early efforts to translate the poems. Readers will enjoy a collection of tales of her search for friends who spoke Russian, her travels to many countries where Kovalevskaya lived or visited, and the high and low points of participating in a Russian math conference dedicated to Kovalevskaya. After returning from Russia, the translation adventure continued. Two decades passed as the translations of the plays, How It Was and How It Might Have Been, developed. Mathematician with the Soul of a Poet places the poems and plays in biographical context. Life events may explain Kovalevskaya's urgent desire to complete the plays quickly at a time when working on her mathematics was equally urgent. The deadline for submission for the coveted Prix Bordin award, which would cement her reputation as a significant mathematician, was fast approaching. But, for reasons important to Kovalevskaya, the plays had to be completed first!

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Reviews

Association for Women in Mathematics NewsletterMost of the book consists of a translation by Sandra DeLozier Coleman of Kovalevskaya's plays, The Struggle for Happiness: Two Parallel Dramas. The plays present two different possible outcomes of a set of circumstances that determine the fates of six young people. Kovalevskaya's intention, as revealed in her preface to the drama, was to endow her creations with slightly different characteristics in the two versions. The actions that ensue, tragic in the first version and triumphant in the second, involve not only the affections of the young people for each other but the legal situation of the estate connected to the nobles. The plays make enjoyable reading. Coleman has done an incredible job of rendering the dialogue so flawlessly that the whole oeuvre reads as though it had been originally written in English. - Barbara Lee Keyfitz, Professor of Mathematics at the Ohio State University. SIAM News: Journal of the Society for Industrial and Applied MathematicsTranslator Sandra DeLozier Coleman's engagement with Kovalevskaya is itself a fascinating story. In 1996, for the AMATYC Review, Coleman penned a review of three biographies of Kovalevskaya. She became obsessed and avowed to translate her writings, despite the fact that she did not even know the Cyrillic alphabet. Coleman has carried out the translations with extreme care to convey not only the meaning but also the meter, rhyme scheme, and music of the original works. Kovalevskaya's mind and soul were certainly extraordinary and Coleman's 25-year labor of love sheds a new and interesting light on the esteemed mathematician. - Ernest Davis, Professor of Computer Science, New York University. Comments by Readers: Mathematician with the Soul of a Poet would be a valuable addition to the library of any scholar of Kovalevskaya and the perfect accompaniment to any of the numerous biographies that are dedicated to her. It's a great read for anyone looking for additional insight into the fascinating life and mind of Sofia Kovalevskaya. Coleman, like Kovalevskaya, is a mathematician and poet. In addition to the translations themselves, Coleman shares the behind-the-scenes story of making them, which involved travel, friendship, and learning an entirely new language and alphabet. - Alysa Salzberg, Historical Fantasy Novelist, Paris, France - I was entertained and enlightened to read the translated poetry and plays from a mathematician of such stature. The story of how this collection came to be translated is enchanting and beautifully told. I look forward to reading more from the author. - Janice Henderson, Librarian, Northwest Florida State College.

Association for Women in Mathematics NewsletterMost of the book consists of a translation by Sandra DeLozier Coleman of Kovalevskaya's plays. The plays present two different possible outcomes of a set of circumstances that determine the fates of six young people with slightly different characteristics in the two versions. The plays make enjoyable reading. Coleman has done an incredible job of rendering the dialogue so flawlessly that the whole oeuvre reads as though it had been originally written in English.. - Barbara Lee Keyfitz, Professor of Mathematics at the Ohio State University. SIAM News: Journal of the Society for Industrial and Applied MathematicsTranslator Sandra DeLozier Coleman's engagement with Kovalevskaya is itself a fascinating story. In 1996, for the AMATYC Review, Coleman penned a review of three biographies of Kovalevskaya. She became obsessed and avowed to translate her writings, despite the fact that she did not even know the Cyrillic alphabet. Coleman has carried out the translations with extreme care to convey not only the meaning but also the meter, rhyme scheme, and music of the original works. Kovalevskaya's mind and soul were certainly extraordinary and Coleman's 25-year labor of love sheds a new and interesting light on the esteemed mathematician. - Ernest Davis, Professor of Computer Science, New York University. Comments by Readers: I was entertained and enlightened to read the translated poetry and plays from a mathematician of such stature. The story of how this collection came to be translated is enchanting and beautifully told. I look forward to reading more from the author. - Janice Henderson, Librarian, Northwest Florida State College. Mathematician with the Soul of a Poet gave me a fascinating glimpse into the thought life and literary talents of the brilliant mathematician, Sofia Kovalevskaya. The plays helped me to understand 19th C. Russia in a new way. The translator has included the story of how she came to be interested in the poems and plays of Sofia Kovalevskaya and taught herself Russian in order to translate these works. Coleman's affection for and admiration of Kovalevskaya is evident in her writing and I can't help but imagine that wherever Kovalevskaya is in this grand Continuum, she must be thrilled to see a friend from another era continuing to connect with her work and devoting so much time and effort to bring it to new audiences. - Jen Caddell, The Ladybug's Spot Bookstore Mathematician with the Soul of a Poet would be a valuable addition to the library of any scholar of Kovalevskaya. - Alysa Salzberg, Historical Fantasy Novelist, Paris, France

Author Information

"At a time when women were not allowed to attend university classes, Sofia Korvin-Krukovskaya entered into a fictitious marriage with a young scientist, Vladimir Kovalevsky, so that he could help her get a passport to travel to Germany to study mathematics. She was invited to study privately at the home of mathematician, Karl Weierstrass, after she impressed him with her mathematical ability. After four years of hard work, she succeeded in obtaining a doctoral degree, the first ever awarded to a woman. She went on to win the prestigious Prix Bordin and became an editor of Acta Mathematica. In 1889, in Sweden, she was awarded a full professorship, another important first for women. In addition to her high mathematical honors, she published a widely-acclaimed autobiography, ""A Russian Childhood,"" a successful novella, ""Nihilist Girl,"" and two parallel plays, ""How It Was"" and ""How It Might Have Been."" Sandra DeLozier Coleman is a writer, artist and poet, who taught mathematics at colleges and universities for thirty years. She began translating the Kovalevskaya plays before software tools used today had been developed. She knew no Russian - not even the sounds or order of the letters in the Russian alphabet - but she was determined to learn as much as she needed to know to be able to translate the poems and plays. She was an invited presenter at the International Symposium Dedicated to the 150th Anniversary of the Birth of Sofia Kovalevskaya in St. Petersburg, Russia in 2000, where she presented translations of the Kovalevskaya poems that matched the originals in both form and content. Back home, she continued work on translating the plays for more than twenty-years. The resulting book, ""Mathematician with the Soul of a Poet,"" begins with a chapter of engaging stories about her early efforts to translate. Readers will enjoy a collection of tales of her search for friends who spoke Russian, her travels to many countries where Kovalevskaya lived or visited, and the high and low points of participating in a Russian math conference. Coleman has been a frequent invited presenter at the Joint Mathematics Meetings poetry gatherings and has written more than one hundred math-related poems, including one published in a Scientific American article that has been republished in several languages. She has written poems about each of the sculptures in the book ""Helaman Ferguson: Mathematics in Stone and Bronze."" Some of these appear in her new book, ""Swirling Symmetry,"" a very unique collection of thoughts and images through which Sandra DeLozier Coleman celebrates pattern and symmetry."

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