Editing Fields Medal (section)

==Landmarks==
The medal was first awarded in 1936 to the Finnish mathematician [[Lars Ahlfors]] and the American mathematician [[Jesse Douglas]], and it has been awarded every four years since 1950. Its purpose is to give recognition and support to younger mathematical researchers who have made major contributions.

In 1954, [[Jean-Pierre Serre]] became the youngest winner of the Fields Medal, at 27.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Nawlakhe | first1 = Anil | last2 = Nawlakhe | first2 = Ujwala | last3 = Wilson | first3 = Robin | author3-link = Robin Wilson (mathematician) | date = July 2011 | department = Stamp Corner | doi = 10.1007/s00283-011-9244-1 | issue = 4 | journal = [[The Mathematical Intelligencer]] | pages = 70 | title = Fields Medallists | volume = 33| s2cid = 189866710 | doi-access = free }}</ref> He retains this distinction.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Raikar |first=Sanat Pai |date=2023-05-08 |title=Fields Medal |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/Fields-Medal |access-date=2023-06-22 |website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |language=en |archive-date=7 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220207104118/https://www.britannica.com/science/Fields-Medal |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1966, [[Alexander Grothendieck]] boycotted the ICM, held in Moscow, to protest against Soviet military actions taking place in Eastern Europe.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Jackson|first=Allyn|date=October 2004|title=As If Summoned from the Void: The Life of Alexandre Grothendieck|url=https://www.ams.org/notices/200410/fea-grothendieck-part2.pdf|journal=[[Notices of the American Mathematical Society]]|volume=51|issue=9|page=1198|access-date=26 August 2006|archive-date=25 August 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060825030446/http://www.ams.org/notices/200410/fea-grothendieck-part2.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Léon Motchane]], founder and director of the [[Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques]], attended and accepted Grothendieck's Fields Medal on his behalf.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ams.org/samplings/this-math-month/thismathmonth-aug|title=This Mathematical Month – August|publisher=[[American Mathematical Society]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100811071525/http://www.ams.org/samplings/this-math-month/thismathmonth-aug|archive-date=11 August 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1970, [[Sergei Novikov (mathematician)|Sergei Novikov]], because of restrictions placed on him by the Soviet government, was unable to travel to the congress in [[Nice]] to receive his medal.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Raikar |first1=Sanat Pai |title=Fields Medal |date=15 December 2023 |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/Fields-Medal |access-date=7 February 2022 |archive-date=7 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220207104118/https://www.britannica.com/science/Fields-Medal |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1978, [[Grigory Margulis]], because of restrictions placed on him by the Soviet government, was unable to travel to the congress in [[Helsinki]] to receive his medal. The award was accepted on his behalf by [[Jacques Tits]], who said in his address: "I cannot but express my deep disappointment—no doubt shared by many people here—in the absence of Margulis from this ceremony. In view of the symbolic meaning of this city of Helsinki, I had indeed grounds to hope that I would have a chance at last to meet a mathematician whom I know only through his work and for whom I have the greatest respect and admiration."<ref>[http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Margulis.html Margulis biography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019123826/http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Margulis.html |date=19 October 2019 }}, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, Scotland. Retrieved 27 August 2006.</ref>

In 1982, the congress was due to be held in [[Warsaw]] but had to be rescheduled to the next year, because of [[Martial law in Poland|martial law]] introduced in Poland on 13 December 1981. The awards were announced at the ninth General Assembly of the IMU earlier in the year and awarded at the 1983 Warsaw congress.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1982 ICM - Warsaw |url=https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/ICM/ICM_Warsaw_1983/ |access-date=2024-06-05 |website=Maths History |language=en}}</ref>

In 1990, [[Edward Witten]] became the first [[physicist]] to win the award.<ref name="National Science Foundation">{{cite web | title=The National Medal of Science 50th Anniversary | website=National Science Foundation | url=https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/medalofscience50/witten.jsp | access-date=2022-08-30 | archive-date=22 June 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220622125848/https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/medalofscience50/witten.jsp | url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1998, at the ICM, [[Andrew Wiles]] was presented by the chair of the Fields Medal Committee, [[Yuri I. Manin]], with the first-ever IMU silver plaque in recognition of his proof of [[Fermat's Last Theorem]]. [[Don Zagier]] referred to the plaque as a "quantized Fields Medal". Accounts of this award frequently make reference that at the time of the award Wiles was over the age limit for the Fields medal.<ref>[http://wwwa.britannica.com/eb/article-9090319 Wiles, Andrew John] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080827194548/http://wwwa.britannica.com/eb/article-9090319|date=27 August 2008}}, Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 27 August 2006.</ref> Although Wiles was slightly over the age limit in 1994, he was thought to be a favorite to win the medal; however, a gap (later resolved by [[Richard Taylor (mathematician)|Taylor]] and Wiles) in the proof was found in 1993.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20010430062600/http://www.icm2002.org.cn/general/prize/medal/1998.htm Fields Medal Prize Winners (1998)], 2002 International Congress of Mathematicians. Retrieved 27 August 2006. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927193530/http://www.icm2002.org.cn/general/prize/medal/1998.htm|date=27 September 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.ams.org/notices/199810/comm-fields.pdf |journal=[[Notices of the AMS]] |date=November 1998 |volume=45 |issue=10 |pages=1359 |title=Borcherds, Gowers, Kontsevich, and McMullen Receive Fields Medals |access-date=28 April 2021 |archive-date=23 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423161336/http://www.ams.org/notices/199810/comm-fields.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2006, [[Grigori Perelman]], who proved the [[Poincaré conjecture]], refused his Fields Medal<ref name="BBC" /> and did not attend the congress.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060828fa_fact2|title=Manifold Destiny: A legendary problem and the battle over who solved it.|last1=Nasar|first1=Sylvia|date=21 August 2006|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|access-date=24 August 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060831020716/http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060828fa_fact2|archive-date=31 August 2006|url-status=live|last2=Gruber|first2=David}}</ref>

In 2014, [[Maryam Mirzakhani]] became the first Iranian as well as the first woman to win the Fields Medal, and [[Artur Avila]] became the first [[South American]] and [[Manjul Bhargava]] became the first person of Indian origin to do so.<ref name="CF">{{Cite book|url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002315/231519e.pdf|title=A Complex Formula: Girls and Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in Asia|last=UNESCO|publisher=Paris, UNESCO|year=2015|isbn=978-92-9223-492-8|pages=23|access-date=3 May 2017|archive-date=15 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115233123/http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002315/231519e.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/16/maryam-mirzakhani-iranian-newspapers-break-hijab-taboo-in-tributes#img-2|title=Maryam Mirzakhani: Iranian newspapers break hijab taboo in tributes|author=Saeed Kamali Dehghan|date=16 July 2017|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=18 July 2017|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=18 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170718033745/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/16/maryam-mirzakhani-iranian-newspapers-break-hijab-taboo-in-tributes#img-2|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2022, [[Maryna Viazovska]] became the first Ukrainian to win the Fields Medal, and [[June Huh]] became the first person of Korean ancestry to do so.<ref name="DZH">{{Cite web |title=Друга жінка в історії: українка Марина В'язовська отримала престижну математичну нагороду |url=https://life.pravda.com.ua/society/2022/07/5/249420/ |access-date=2022-07-11 |website=Українська правда _Життя |archive-date=13 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220713211953/https://life.pravda.com.ua/society/2022/07/5/249420/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="The Korea Times 2022">{{cite web | title=June Huh becomes 1st scholar of Korean descent to win Fields Medal | website=The Korea Times | date=5 July 2022 | url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/culture/2024/05/135_332224.html | access-date=5 July 2022 | archive-date=5 July 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705083700/https://m.koreatimes.co.kr/pages/article.asp?newsIdx=332224 | url-status=live }}</ref>