He was born to Pyotr Ivanovich Kovalevsky, a noble Court Councilor. From 1825 to 1828, he studied in the philosophy department at
Kharkov University. After graduating, he entered the service of the Mining Department where, following the example of his older brother, , he developed an interest in geology. In 1830 he qualified as a Mining Engineer and went to work in Siberia. By 1837 he had opened four gold mines there. That year, at the request of Prince-Bishop
Petar II, he was sent to
Montenegro to search for gold. While there, he was forced to take part in several border skirmishes with the
Austrian Empire. Realizing that he could be punished for doing so when he returned to Russia, he consulted with Prince
Alexander Gorchakov, and sent a detailed explanatory note to Tsar
Nicholas I. After reading it, the Tsar made a notation (in French), «Le capitaine Kowalewsky a agi en vrai russe». (He acted like a true Russian). Later, Kovalevsky would write
Four Months in Montenegro. He was in Egypt and what is now
Sudan through 1848 and, among his practical accomplishments, he was able to chart the source of the
White Nile, as well as discover a small deposit of gold south of
Wad Madani, near the
Blue Nile. This, and a description of
Abyssinia, was included in his book
A Journey to Inner Africa, in which he also spoke in favor of a canal, to encourage trade with India, and condemned slavery. In 1849 he joined the thirteenth
Russian Spiritual Mission to
Beijing; contributing to the knowledge of better merchant routes through Mongolia. He also helped to mediate the
Treaty of Kulja (1851), which formalized the existing trade arrangements between Russia and Western China (
Xinjiang), and helped expand Russian influence in what is now
Kazakhstan. Upon returning, he wrote
A Journey to China. From 1853 to 1855 he took part in the
Crimean War; initially being sent to Montenegro as a Commissar, following the attack by
Omar Pasha. Later, he was present at the
Siege of Sevastopol; staying at the headquarters of General
Mikhail Gorchakov and collecting materials related to the siege. These would later be part of his historical commentary,
War with Turkey and the Break with the Western Powers. Following the war, in 1856, Prince Alexander Gorchakov appointed him as manager of the Asian Department at the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs; a position he held until 1861. That year, he became a
Senator and a member of the Council at the Ministry. In 1859 he was one of the founding members of the , a society devoted to the financial support of struggling writers, and served as its chairman until his death in 1868. He wrote over 100 works altogether. Following his death, the poet
Fyodor Tyutchev wrote a lengthy memorial poem in his honor. == Works online==