She revolutionized a whole area of geometry, bringing forth new ideas by assembling – like a puzzle – mathematical pieces that seemed far apart. Through her incredible genius and destiny, she is today without doubt the most inspiring mathematician and a role model for all young women who dream of science. She was awarded the ultimate grail – the Fields Medal – in 2014, 10 years ago, and Cirm is dedicating a major exhibition to her (with Anton Zorich and Jayadev Athreya), combined with outreach events. Maryam Mirzakhani, creator of new mathematics and an inspiring role model, narrated by Jayadev Athreya and Pascal Hubert.

Jayadev Athreya, mathematician at the University of Washington, Chaire Jean-Morlet 2023, one of Cirm’s best ambassadors, returns to Marseille for two months to pursue research collaborations begun in 2023, and agreed to tell us about the woman who was once his colleague and friend: “Maryam was a truly remarkable mathematician in many ways, because she fused two things: incredible creative vision and remarkable technical skills”. I met her at Luminy in 2009,” explains Pascal Hubert, director of Cirm, ”Maryam had come for a week of conferences in honor of Howard Masur’s 60th birthday, and she had given a talk that was extremely lively and teeming with ideas. What I remember is a mathematician full of ideas, particularly geometrical ones. She loved geometry and saw everything geometrically”.

An exhibition accessible to all

Pascal Hubert wanted to create this exhibition because “Cirm develops programs for young people, especially girls (Les Cigales), and Maryam is very inspiring. Both humble and creative, the first woman to win the Fields Medal, her story is also magnificent, encouraging and moving, and that’s what we also want to convey. She grew up in Iran, a country that doesn’t really want girls to study, and has shown a willingness to understand that is fascinating. She sums up that science is accessible to everyone. She really is a role model!”
Jayadev Athreya has built a section of the exhibition aimed at a student and high school audience: “these drawings come from my work on George Csicsery’s film ‘Secrets of the Surfaces’. When we tried to explain Maryam’s work, we wanted to tell the story of a modular space, the space of surface shapes. We really wanted to have that hand-drawn feel to show that this is how mathematicians think”.

CIRM presents an exhibition in tribute to Iranian mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani, the first woman to win the Fields Medal in 2014, who passed away in 2017. This major 36-panel exhibition is divided into 4 sections:
– One part of the exhibition “Remember Maryam MIRZAKHANI” created by the International Mathematical Union’s Committee for Women in Mathematics (CWM) – Creators: Thais Jordao and Rafael Meireles Barroso.
– Another part entirely created by Cirm under the scientific direction of Anton Zorich “Mathematical Worlds of Maryam MIRZAKHANI”.
– A third part created by Cirm under the scientific direction of Jayadev Athreya “Space of Shapes”.
– A final section “Maryam Mirzakhani, the mathematician! “was created by Johan Segura.
Part of this exhibition has been reproduced and can be seen at the Institut Henri-Poincaré in Paris until May 2025!
On October 24, 2024, Cirm will devote an afternoon to Maryam Mirzakhani at the “Les Cigales” free mathematics school for high-school girls.
On the program: showing of the film “Secrets of the Surface”, two-part talk by Pascal Hubert and Jayadev Athreya, “Science and society” lecture by Aurélie Biancarelli-Lopes, deputy mayor of Marseille in charge of higher education and research.