Invited Talks  and Seminars

In this talk, I explore the journey of becoming the first woman professor of mathematics in modern Europe by examining Sofia Kovalevskaya’s personal writings, particularly her correspondence with the Swedish mathematician Gösta Mittag-Leffler. Although Kovalevskaya’s life and accomplishments have been widely celebrated—she was hailed as a 'Princess of Science' upon her arrival in Stockholm—the substantial challenges she encountered in securing an academic position after earning her PhD in 1874, as well as her ongoing struggle for recognition as a professor, even within the progressive atmosphere of Stockholm University, have been less thoroughly examined. The renowned playwright August Strindberg called her a 'monster' when she secured her first fixed-term position in 1894, yet it appears that so-called 'monstrosities' have often played a distinctive and influential role in feminist histories.

Invited talk for the on-line colloquium, ‘Reimagining Higher Education Otherwise’, organized by the  Immersive Research Institute (IRI) of  the Technological University Ireland in collaboration with the Sociological Association of Ireland and the European University Network, June 7, 2024, on-line.