Trailblazing maths genius who was first woman to win prestigious Fields Medal dies aged 40
Source: The Independent
“The grievous passing of Maryam Mirzakhani, the eminent Iranian and world-renowned mathematician, is very much heartrending,” President Hassan Rouhani.
Growing up in Iran during the Iran-Iraq war, Professor Mirzakhani dreamed of becoming a writer and watched biographies of famous women like Marie Curie and Helen Keller.
The professor entered the Iranian International Mathematical Olympiad team at 17 in 1994, becoming the first girl to win a gold medal in 1994 and a perfect score the following year.
She had first taken an interest in maths when her older brother told her about how German mathematician Gauss discovered the formula for adding numbers from 1 to 100.
“It was the first time I enjoyed a beautiful solution,” she said in an interview given to the Clay Institute where she was a Research Fellow from 2004 to 2008.
“Of course, the most rewarding part is the "Aha" moment, the excitement of discovery and enjoyment of understanding something new – the feeling of being on top of a hill and having a clear view. Most of the time, doing mathematics for me is like being on a long hike with no trail and no end in sight.”
Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/maryam-mirzakhani-fields-medal-mathematics-dies-forty-iran-rouhani-a7842971.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
Let's keep it at that. 
