
DailyMail says that Grigori Perelman has refused his $1 million prize from the Clay Institute. I think this is what we all expected, given his past. Four years ago, he failed to show up to receive his Fields Medal from the International Mathematical Union in Madrid. Right now, Perelman is living in a cockroach-infested flat in St Petersburg.
After being told about the prize, he said through the closed door: ‘I have all I want.’
This reminds me of a letter I read on Letters of Note about Nikola Tesla. I found it really moving and I feel he has similarities to Grigori Perelman in ways.
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2010/01/ordinary-standards-do-not-apply-to.html