Maryam Mirzakhani, the first woman and Iranian to receive the prestigious Fields Medal for mathematics for her work on complex geometry and dynamical systems, has died in the US of cancer aged 40. Born in Teheran on 3 May 1977, she moved to do post grad at Harvard and was married to a Czech theoretical computer scientist and mathematician with a daughter.
She had an extraordinary and very high pressure chart with her Taurus Sun Mercury opposition inventive Uranus (Moon) in Scorpio square Saturn in Leo – so had perseverance in spades and sudden flashes of insight, and she would want to build a reputation with Saturn in Leo. She also had an inspirational Fire Grand Trine of Saturn trine Venus Mars in Aries trine Neptune in Sagittarius, formed into a Kite by Venus (Mars) opposition Pluto – so ultra-determined and influential, pushing back the boundaries of knowledge with that Pluto. Neptune oddly enough is often found emphasised in the charts of high-level mathematicians. Plus a Yod of Pluto sextile Neptune inconjunct her Sun – so an outsider who found her niche and mission in life.
Those configurations which dominated her chart – a Fixed T Square, Kite and Yod – had moved by Solar Arc to collide four years ago when she was diagnosed with breast cancer which spread to her bones. Her Solar Arc Mars was opposition her Uranus in 2013, moving on to square her Saturn and then conjunct her Sun last year. Her Neptune was also under assault from Solar Arc Saturn and Uranus, so it would be a truly punishing few years.
Her 5th Harmonic (quintiles) was strong. It indicates an ability to see the connectedness in what initially seems disjointed, forging links; and is associated with the mind and its ability to construct, arrange, put together.
A sad loss for someone so young and so talented.
Thanks, Marjorie.
A life, and a chart — as so well illuminated by you — that causes one to ponder the balance between fate and free will in our lives.
Perhaps some people have more free range than others?
Due to the presence or absence of the more seemingly “fated” configurations?
Perhaps material for an overview post: Yods, Kites, Quincunxes (requiring “evolution,” constant adaptation?), Grand Crosses (and their elements), etc.?
Doesn’t Queen Elizabeth, for example, have a fixed Grand Cross, which she’s managed dutifull, but in recent years with more lightness, possibly since the death of the Queen Mother and the entrance of dresser Angela Kelly as a daily presence in her life?
QEII + Angela Kelly could also be an intriguing post.
All the very best.