page_title: Maryam Mirzakhani
section_title: Death and legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Maryam Mirzakhani / Death and legacy
caption_attribution_description: فارسی: تصویر تالار میرزاخانی، خانه ریاضیات اصفهان
context_page_description: Maryam Mirzakhani was an Iranian mathematician and a professor of mathematics at Stanford University. Her research topics included Teichmüller theory, hyperbolic geometry, ergodic theory, and symplectic geometry. In 2005, as a result of her research, she was honored in Popular Science's fourth annual "Brilliant 10" in which she was acknowledged as one of the top 10 young minds who have pushed their fields in innovative directions.
  On 13 August 2014, Mirzakhani was honored with the Fields Medal, the most prestigious award in mathematics. Thus, she became both the first, and to date, the only woman and the first Iranian to be honored with the award. The award committee cited her work in "the dynamics and geometry of Riemann surfaces and their moduli spaces".
  On 14 July 2017, Mirzakhani died of breast cancer at the age of 40.
context_section_description: Mirzakhani was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013. In 2016, the cancer spread to her bones and liver, and she died on 14 July 2017 at the age of 40 at Stanford Hospital in Stanford, California.
  Iranian president Hassan Rouhani and other officials offered their condolences and praised Mirzakhani's scientific achievements. Rouhani said in his message that "the unprecedented brilliance of this creative scientist and modest human being, who made Iran's name resonate in the world's scientific forums, was a turning point in showing the great will of Iranian women and young people on the path towards reaching the peaks of glory and in various international arenas."
  Upon her death, several Iranian newspapers, along with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, broke taboo and published photographs of Mirzakhani with her hair uncovered, a gesture that was widely noted in the press and on social media. Mirzakhani's death has also renewed debates within Iran regarding matrilineal citizenship for children of mixed-nationality parentage; Fars News Agency reported that, on the heels of Mirzakhani's death, 60 Iranian MPs urged the speeding up of an amendment to a law that would allow children of Iranian mothers married to foreigners to be given Iranian nationality, in order to make it easier for Mirzakhani's daughter to visit Iran.
  Numerous obituaries and tributes were published in the days following Maryam Mirzakhani's death. As a result of advocacy carried out by the Women's Committee within the Iranian Mathematical Society (Persian: کمیته بانوان انجمن ریاضی ایران‎), the International Council for Science has agreed to declare Maryam Mirzakhani's birthday, 12 May, as International Women in Mathematics Day in respect of her memory.
  Various establishments have also taken after Mirzakhani's namesake in honor of her life and achievements. In 2017, Farzanegan High school – the high school Mirzakhani formerly attended – named their amphitheater and library after her. Additionally, Sharif University of Technology, the institute wherein Mirzakhani obtained her bachelors, has since named their main library in the College of Mathematics after her. Further, the House of Mathematics in Isfahan, in collaboration with the Mayor, named a conference hall in the city after her.
  In 2014, students at the University of Oxford founded the Mirzakhani Society, a society for women and non-binary students studying Mathematics at the University of Oxford. Mirzakhani met the society in September 2015, when she visited Oxford.
  In 2016, Maryam Mirzakhani was made a member of the National Academy of Sciences, making her the first Iranian woman to be officially accepted as a member of the academy.
  On 2 February 2018, Satellogic, a high-resolution Earth observation imaging and analytics company, launched a ÑuSat type micro-satellite named in honor of Maryam Mirzakhani.
  In November 4, 2019 The Breakthrough Prize Foundation announced that the Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers Prize has been created to be awarded to outstanding women in the field of mathematics each year. The $50,000 award will be presented to early-career mathematicians who have completed their PhDs within the past two years.
  In February 2020, on International Day of Women and Girls in STEM, Mirzakhani was honoured by UN Women as one of seven female scientists dead or alive who have shaped the world.
caption: Plaque for Mirzakhani Hall in Isfahan
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