The first female to win a fields medal (which is the most prestigious award in mathematics given to mathematicians below 40yrs every 4 years), ‎Maryam Mirzakhani has just passed away.

She died on the 15th of July, 2017 after a protracted battle with breast cancer. This is a huge loss for mathematics community and the world at large.

Born in 1977 in Iran, she won two gold medals in IMO (International Mathematical Olympiad) before barging a Ph.D. in Mathematics from Harvard University in 2004. She was at Princeton University before she was made a Professor at Stanford University: this position she occupied before her untimely death; she is survived by her husband (a theoretical physicist and applied mathematician who is an associate professor at Stanford University) and her daughter.

She was an inspiration to young female Mathematicians and she would be dearly missed. May her soul rest in peace and may God give the family and close friends the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/07/15/us/mirzakhani-obituary-first-woman-win-math-prize/index.html

Rest in peace madam.