Sofia or Sonia Vasílievna Kovalévskaya or, as translated by Sofia Casanova, Zofja Kowalewska (Moscow, January 15, 1850-Stockholm, February 10, 1891) (in Russian, Со́фья Васи́льевна Ковале́вская) was a mathematician and significant Russian writer in the fields of analysis, partial differential equations and mechanics. She was the first woman to get a position as a university professor in Europe (Sweden, 1881). His name is sometimes transliterated as Sophie, Sonya, Sonja or Sonia. Her surname Kovalévskaya means "the wife of Kovalevski."