G.Y. Perelman

Grigori Yakovlevich Perelman

sometimes known as Grisha Perelman, is a Russian mathematician who has made landmark contributions to Riemannian geometry and geometric topology. In particular, he has proved Thurston’s geometrization conjecture. This solves in the affirmative the famous Poincaré conjecture, posed in 1904 and regarded as one of the most important and difficult open problems in mathematics until it was solved.

In August 2005, Perelman was awarded the Fields Medal, for “his contributions to geometry and his revolutionary insights into the analytical and geometric structure of the Ricci flow“. The Fields Medal is widely considered to be the top honor a mathematician can receive. However, he declined to accept the award or appear at the congress.

On December 22, 2006, the journal Science recognized Perelman’s proof of the Poincaré Conjecture as the scientific “Breakthrough of the Year,” the first such recognition in the area of mathematics
In 1982, as a member of the USSR team competing in the International Mathematical Olympiad, an international competition for high school students, he won a gold medal, achieving a perfect score.

Perelman was best known for his work in comparison theorems in Riemannian geometry. Among his notable achievements was the proof of the soul conjecture.

More about Perelman:

Perelman on Wikipedia
Perelman’s Homepage
On New York Times
The Poincaré Conjecture–Proved
Eccentric Genius
Fields Medal

Quote:

“My Mathematics has nothing to do with awards or public recognition, the prize is the joy of solving a difficult problem” – Grigori Yakovlevich Perelman