The Kovalevskaia Fund

The Kovalevskaia Fund is a small foundation which aims to encourage women in science and technology in developing countries. Founded in 1985, it is named after the Russian mathematician, socialist and feminist Sofia V. Kovalevskaia (1850—1891), who once said:

...is it really possible not to stretch out one's hand, is it possible to refuse to help someone who is seeking knowledge and cannot help herself reach its source? After all, on woman's road, when a woman wants to take a path other than the well-trodden one leading to [traditional] marriage, so many difficulties pile up. I myself encountered many of these. Therefore I consider it my duty to destroy whatever obstacles I can in the paths of others.

At present the main projects of the Fund are in Vietnam, Peru, Mexico, Cuba, and southern Africa. The annual Kovalevskaia Fund Newsletter, published in English and Spanish, goes out to readers in about 100 countries.

If you would like to be put on the mailing list for the Newsletter, please write a note including your postal address (in hard copy form, not as an email) to the address below. We would also be grateful for your suggestions of colleagues who should receive the Newsletter (please send us their postal address). The Newsletter is not available electronically, but will be sent in hard copy form free of charge.

We also welcome suggestions for the website. At present its main purpose is to make easily available a selection of articles (mostly from earlier issues of the Newsletter) that deal with issues affecting women in science in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Address for correspondence:
   Ann Hibner Koblitz, Director, Kovalevskaia Fund
   6547 17th Ave. N.E., Seattle, WA 98115 U.S.A.
   e-mail: koblitz@asu.edu