Sofia KovalevskayaAt 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 mathemtics. 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." Read More Read Less