Maksim Kovalevsky was born into the Ukrainian noble family of Kovalevsky and spent his childhood in a manor near
Kharkov. He studied at the
Imperial Kharkov University under
Dmitri Kachenovsky. He furthered his education in
Berlin,
Paris, and
London, where he made the acquaintance of
Karl Marx,
Friedrich Engels,
Herbert Spencer, and
Vladimir Solovyov. He also became involved in the
Masonic movement, contributing to its revival in Russia. After 1878, he read lectures in law at the
Imperial Moscow University, where he studied the
Russian peasant commune and legal institutions of
Caucasian highlanders. Some of his materials were later used by
Frederick Engels. Minister
Ivan Delyanov did not approve of Kovalevsky's liberal views. In 1886, Kovalevsky was kicked out of the university and then settled in Western Europe, where he came to know all major sociologists and anthropologists of his day. His cousin's widow, mathematician
Sofia Kovalevskaya, arranged for him a lecture program at the
Stockholm University. He is portrayed as her lover and fiancé in the Soviet film "
Sofia Kovalevskaya" (1985) and in "Too Much Happiness" (2009), a short story by
Alice Munro published in the August 2009 issue of ''
Harper's Magazine''. Sofia was "adamant that she would not marry Maksim, fearing that if she did, he would begin to take her for granted and look for a mistress". They parted in 1890 and she died from influenza the following year. After the
First Russian Revolution, Kovalevsky resumed his lectures in Russia (in the
University of Saint Petersburg), became involved in politics, established a centrist party of democratic reforms (see
Progressist Party), was elected into the first
State Duma, and appointed into the
State Council of the Russian Empire. In 1912 he was nominated for a
Nobel Peace Prize. He was scheduled to take part in the peace negotiations for ending
World War I but died in April 1916. The crowd that had attended the funeral at the
Alexander Nevsky Lavra was enormous.
Freemasonry Initiated to three craft degree March 14, 1888, in Paris, in the Russian lodge "Cosmos". January 9, 1906, member of Lodge "Revival". To other sources - member of the Lodge "Cosmos" before 1915. Since 1906 founding member of the Lodge "Renaissance" of the
Grand Orient of France. Was
Worshipful Master Lodge "Renaissance". ==Ideas==