Sofya Vasilievna Kovalevskaya, a professor of mathematics at the University of Stockholm, published her memories of growing up in Russia in the middle of the nineteenth century in 1889. Professor Kovalevskaya was already well-known on a global scale, albeit perhaps not for the reasons she should have been: less as the accomplished mathematician she was than as a “mathematical lady”—a strange but intriguing phenomenon.
Her novel became popular right away. She had originally intended for it to be published in Swedish, the language of her chosen country.
