Shakuntala Devi was an Indian researcher, writer, and social worker. She was born on 4 November 1929 in Bangalore, Mysore, British India. She died on 21 April 2013 in Bangalore, Karnataka. She was famously known as the ‘human calculator.’

She was married to Paritosh Banerjee. The couple took a divorce in 1979 after 19 years of marriage. Her daughter’s name is Anupama Banerjee. 

Interesting facts about Shakuntala Devi 

Shakuntala Devi’s father was a circus artist who performed magic shows and circus acts with lions.

Her father taught her how to play cards when she was 3 years old. Her father recognized her extraordinary intelligence after her multiple winning streaks. 

Her father introduced her to mathematics and started teaching her informally. 

At the age of 6, she demonstrated her talent in a mathematics competition at the University of Mysore.

Shakuntala Devi’s brief school life

When Shakuntala Devi turned 10, her parents got her admitted to a convent school, but her formal education could not be continued due to poor financial conditions. 

Despite not attending any schools or universities, Shakuntala Devi acquired such remarkable mathematical skills. 

In the year 1940, she got an opportunity to move to London with her father. 

In the year 1960, she returned to India and married Paritosh Banerjee, an IAS officer.

The genius of Shakuntala Devi

Shakuntala Devi showcased her arithmetical talent in Europe in 1950 and in New York City in the year 1976.

In the year 1977, Shakuntala Devi published the book ‘The World of Homosexuals.’

In the year 1988, Shakuntala Devi’s abilities were studied by Arthur Jensen, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. 

In 1990, Professor Jensen published an academic article on Shakuntala Devi’s mathematical genius. 

Making a world record

On June 18, 1980, she multiplied two 13-digit numbers (7,686,369,774,870 × 2,465,099,745,779) mentally and easily gave the correct answer of 18,947,668,177,995,426,462,773,730 in 28 seconds and this event was recorded in the 1982 Guinness Book of Records.

On April 21, 2013, she suffered from severe respiratory and kidney disease, which led to her death.

On 4 November 2013, Google gave a tribute on Shakuntala Devi’s 84th birthday by releasing a doddle. 

A Bollywood film was released on 31 July 2020, that was based on Shakuntala Devi’s life. Film actress Vidya Balan played the role of Shakuntala Devi. 

Shakuntala Devi’s awards

In the year 1969, Shakuntala Devi was awarded the Distinguished Woman of the Year Award with a gold medal from the University of the Philippines.

In 1988, she received the Ramanujan Mathematical Genius Award.

A month before her death, she was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award in Mumbai.