Mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani died after a four-year battle with cancer
(Mirror Daily, United States) – On July 16th, the 40-year-old Iranian mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani lost her battle with breast cancer. The woman has suffered from the terrible disease for four years, but the cancer spread to her bone marrow, and she could no longer fight for her life.
She won the Fields Medal in 2014
In 2014, Mirzakhani received the Fields Medal for her amazing discoveries in the fields of complex geometry and dynamic systems. This award was sometimes called “The Nobel Prize for Mathematics” and, since its creation in 1936, Mirzakhani was the first one, as well as the first Iranian, to receive it.
The mathematician was born in Tehran, Iran, but she moved to the United States for graduate school, and studied at Harvard University. Back at the time, she participated in the International Mathematical Olympiad, and was the first female member of Iran’s team. Also, before coming to the US, he had already had gold medals from several contests and competitions.
Mirzakhani was a role model and an inspiration to everyone
Four years ago, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Since then, she has led an intense fight with the disease, which defeated her much too early. The cancer had spread to her bone marrow, so she couldn’t fight any longer, as the disease had already become much harder to beat.
The entire scientific world is struck with grief, and cannot believe something like this could happen. Stanford officials, where she had been a professor since 2008, expressed their regret for losing their colleague so soon. They praised her immense contributions as a scholar, as well as her modesty and willingness to inspire others.
When talking about her passion, Mirzakhani would say mathematics was for her like a puzzle. She enjoyed putting all the pieces together, or connecting dots just like a detective solving a case. This is a huge loss for the scientific world, and she would surely be missed.
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