Mathematical Genius Grigory Perelman

The Poincare Conjecture is so difficult, the US Clay Mathematics Institute named it as one of the seven Millennium Prize Problems in 2000 and pledged a $US 1 million bounty to anyone who could solve one. Russian mathematical genius Grigory Perelman did just that - he is the only person ever to have solved any of the seven Millennium problems.

He should have been in Madrid in 2006 when all the greatest maths minds in the world came together at the International Mathematical Union's four-yearly congress. He should have been there to accept the Fields Medal, an outstanding, prestigous award for the best mathematical mind in the world, but he didn't want to go, he was home in his flat in St Petersburg. Sir John Ball was given the the task of getting his to accept the medal, but after two days trying to talk him around, he still refused.

Grigory Perelman doesn't care about medals or money. When he was offered a $1 million American dollars he said he would have to think about it and would let them know. He lives in a 2 bedroom flat with his elderly mother in a run-down Soviet-era tower block in St Petersburg and is currently unemployed.

His mother Ludmila, a talented mathematician and his father Yakov who now lives in Israel, was a prominent engineer. As a child, he was enrolled in an elite maths school and the director Mr Rukshin remembers that at the age of 14 he devoted himself entirely to maths, even putting aside his beloved violin.

Soviet hatred of Jews was very strong when he was growing up and life was difficult but nevertheless, he got a PhD at Lenigrad University and went on to fill a position with a top institute. In the late 80's, he moved to America and spent time at top universities. His American Colleages were shocked when he returned to the poorly funded research institute in St Peterburg, working for a low salary instead of accepting one of the lucrative offers made to him in America.

But he wasn't interested in churning out academic papers, he had his sights set on one goal only -to solve the complex maths puzzle known as the Poincare Conjecture that has baffled mathematicians for over one hundred years. For some reason, this annoyed his colleagues at St Petersburg Steklov Mathematical Institute and they lost patience with him and voted him out. He was very hurt and upset at not being re-elected. "They voted out the most brilliant mathematician in the world" said Tamara Yefimova, one of his former teachers. Disillusioned, Perelma left in December 2005 and has not worked since.

In 2002 and 2003 he quietly published the answer to Poincare Conjecture and it took four years for teams of academics around the world to check his solution. Eventually they said that he had done it - he had solved the unsolvable!

Success brought the fame he never wanted. He received fantastic offers of employment, invitations to speak at top academic conferences and prizes came from everywhere. But he withdrew from the world and spent all his time at home with his mother, living on her modest pension and money sent by his sister every month who lives in Sweden. Every day at exactly the same time he goes to the grocery store and buys the same things: eggs, cheese, spaghetti, sour cream, bread and a kilo of oranges.

Journalists anxious to find out if he's decided to accept the million dollar prize keep knocking on his door. "I have not decided yet" he says from behind the closed door. When they asked if he would talk a little about himself he said "Nothing needs to be known".