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Shakuntala Devi
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Indian writer and mental calculator (1929-2013)
Shakuntala Devi was an Indian writer and mental calculator who became famous for her extraordinary ability to perform complex mathematical calculations in her head. Her remarkable talent and prolific career in the 20th century made her a notable figure in both mathematics and literature.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Born
- ( 1929-11-04 ) 4 November 1929, Bangalore , Kingdom of Mysore , British India
- Died
- 21 April 2013 (2013-04-21) (aged 83), Bengaluru , Karnataka , India
- Other name
- Human Computer
- Occupations
- Author mental calculator astrologer
- Spouse
- Paritosh Banerji ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1964 ; divorced</span>"}]]}'>div. 1979 )
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Gender
- female
- Citizenship
- Dominion of India
- Place of birth
- Bengaluru
- Place of death
- Bengaluru
- Occupation
- mental calculator
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Religion
- Hinduism
- Image
- 19681016狄威.jpg
Show 4 more facts
- date of birth
- 1929-11-04
- date of death
- 2013-04-21
- different from
- Sakuntla Devi
- Commons category
- Shakuntala Devi
via Wikidata · CC0
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Encyclopedic overview
Shakuntala Devi (4 November 1929 – 21 April 2013) was an Indian mental calculator, astrologer, and writer, popularly known as the "Human Computer". Her talent earned her a place in the 1982 edition of The Guinness Book of World Records. However, the certificate for the record was given posthumously on 30 July 2020, despite Devi achieving her world record on 18 June 1980 at Imperial College, London. Devi was a precocious child, and she demonstrated her arithmetic abilities at the University of Mysore without any formal education.
Devi strove to simplify numerical calculations for students. She wrote several books in her later years, including novels as well as texts about mathematics, puzzles, and astrology. She wrote the book The World of Homosexuals (1977), which is considered the first study of homosexuality in India. She saw homosexuality in a positive light and is considered a pioneer in the field.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Shakuntala Devi” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.