While we all want to be known, respected and loved by the society, some of us prefer to be isolated despite their success.
One of the names who prefer not to be in front of the public is Grigori Perelman, who proved the “Poincaré Conjecture” that has not been solved for years and broke new ground in the world of mathematics.
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What is the Poincaré Conjecture?
The Poincaré Conjecture is a mathematical assertion that a 3-dimensional sphere shape can be transformed into a topological sphere shape by any deformation, i.e. by shrinking or stretching. It was coined in 1904 by the French mathematician, physicist and philosopher Henri Poincaré.
Since it could not be proven for years, the Clay Mathematics Institute shared this assumption as the “Question of the Millennium” and announced that it would reward those who could prove it true.
The prize they determined for this assumption they shared in the early 2000s was the Fields Prize, which is seen as the Nobel Prize in the field of mathematics, and 1 million dollars.
In 2002, a mathematician named Grigori Perelman proved the Poincaré Conjecture.
Perelman not only proved the conjecture, but also published his 33-page solution on the open scientific archive site “Arxiv.org”, but “I don’t want to be famous. I’m not a circus monkey to be showcased. I just solved a question and it’s interesting that it was magnified like this.” He refused the awards.
In addition, after his solution spread on the internet, he stated that he benefited from Richard Hamilton’s work in the invitations he attended and said, “I am a disciple of Hamilton even though I did not get his permission.” he said.
So who is Grigori Perelman?
Mathematician of Jewish origin, whose full name is Grigori Yakovlevich Perelman, was born on June 13, 1966 in Saint Petersburg. Grigori’s mother was a mathematician like herself and gave up her graduate studies in order to raise him.
Also, when Grigori was only 10 years old, his mathematical talent showed up, and his mother enrolled him in Sergei Rukshin’s after-school mathematics education program. In 1982, he took part in the International Mathematical Olympiad as a member of the Soviet team, where he won a gold medal.
At the age of 16 he entered the School of Mathematics and Mechanics of Leningrad State University and completed his doctorate. Later, he accepted a position at the State University of New York, but did not find what he was looking for in New York. Later, he rejected offers from the best universities in the USA and returned to Saint Petersburg Steklov Institute in 1995.
Why didn’t he accept the awards despite causing such an important development in the world of mathematics?
Although many thought that he did not accept the awards because he was too rich, Perelman lived in an impossibly poor condition at first glance.
The main reasons for rejecting the awards are that his solution was accepted after 4 years and he was dishonored because he did not receive the necessary respect from some mathematicians in the USA.
Although there are thousands of people wondering about him, Perelman continues his life in isolation from society.
Today, Perelman lives with her mother in a rather neglected house, on her savings or her mother’s pension.
In some sources, there is information that Perelman accepted the prize money to continue his mathematics education in the past years.
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