Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1895-09-19

est in her, both as woman and genius,
is focused on this point-that her gent
us and her temperament were at war.
To give some idea of the environment
and events which influenced her career,
1t may be well to state something Of
her history. Sophie Kovalevsky was
born in 1850. Her parents were Rus
SLAMS Of high birth, but her own ac-
counts Of her utterly neglected child
hood cause one, in this age Of PAM
pered children, to pause aghast. Her
delight was in studying the papers
hung upon the walls Of one Of the rooms
set apart for the children. These pa
pers were printed lectures on the in
tegral and differential calculus, and
these she pored over until some degree
of their meaning dawned upon the
brain Of the child. A few years later,
her father allowed her to have some in
struction, and her mathematical ability
was Immediately recognized. 1t was
just at this time that the intellectual
restlessness, the passion for change, the
desire for knowledge, spread through
the Russian women of the upper classes.
Sophie was dominated by an older sis
ter (Anna), Of an erratc and some
what sensational nature, who imbued
her with the belief that the only way
for them to secure the freedom their ia
Their had denied them to study in a
foreign university, was for Anna to
marry. Her idea was to contract one
Of those curious marriages, by no means
uncommon in Russia at that time,
in which 1t was understood that so soon
as the legal ceremony was performed
both parties would be at once free to
continue their studies apart.
Sophie, influenced by Anna, accom-
panied her to the study of professor
of whom they had heard, but never met.
There Anna showed no signs Of maiden
timidlty, asked his hand in marriage,
stating her reasons for so doing. He
politely but firmly refused. Nothing
daunted Anna sought young student,
Vladimir Kovalevsky, and repeated her
offer. Again she met with no enCour-
agement, but he tempered his refusal,
saying that he would gladly marry the
reserved and studious little Sophie.
Sophie, prepared to make any sacrifice to
gain the knowledge for which she longed,
with all the enthusiasm of genius, ac-
cepted. 1t now became necessary to
mention the matter to Papa. Poor
Gen. Kroukovsky! Ones heart bleeds
for him. To be the father of an adj
vanced young woman like Anna was
bad enough, but here was little Sophie
following in her footsteps. OF course,
he refused his consent; and now the
passion for melodrama, which is in
herent in the Slav temperament, as
serted itself in Sophie. While her
father was enjoying little lull in
household surprises and giving din
ner to some friends, servant brought
a note from Sophie. 1t was as brief as
the kings in Ruy Bias Papa, l have
gone to vladimir. 1 beg your consent
to our marriage" Gen. Kroukovsky
rose to the occasion. He sent for the
rash children and announced their mar
riage to his guests.
Monsieur and Madame Kovalev-
sky now left for England, where they
met number of the most celebrated
people of the day. After a brief stay
they went to Heidelberg, where they
were enrolled as students. Here Nine.
Kovalevsky's remarkable mathematical
ability soon attracted to her much no.
tice. After a time she went to Berlin