The Google Doodle on March 7 celebrated the 97th birth anniversary of Russian mathematician Olga Ladyzhenskaya.
Google paid tribute to Ladyzhenskaya, who excelled in solving partial differential equations, with a mathematical equation known as Navier-Stokes, used to study fluid dynamics.
Her life is an inspiring story of breaking barriers and overcoming obstacles to fulfil dreams. She was also a lover of nature and the arts.
Ladyzhenskaya was born in 1922. Her father, a mathematics teacher, kindled her interest in algebra. He was accused of being an “enemy of the state” and killed by the Soviet authorities.
Denied admission to Leningrad University
Ladyzhenskaya graduated from school with good grades but due to her family name was denied admission to the Leningrad University.
She spent years teaching schoolchildren. After the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953, she got a chance to continue her studies. She went to the Moscow State University and earned her Ph.D. under the supervision of renowned mathematician Ivan Petrovsky. She then joined the Steklov Mathematical Institute and headed the Laboratory of Mathematical Physics.
Ladyzhenskaya, who has authored more than 250 papers and shortlisted for the Fields Medal in 1958, became a member of the St. Petersburg Mathematical Society in 1959. In 1990, she was its president.
In 2002, Ladyzhenskaya was awarded the Lomonosov Gold Medal by the Russian Academy of Sciences. She died on January 12, 2004.
