Srinivasa Ramanujan was born in 1887 in India and showed extraordinary talent in mathematics from a very young age. He mastered advanced mathematical concepts entirely on his own from books in his local library. Ramanujan's genius was further awakened after studying a book on 5000 mathematical theorems. He went on to make significant contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series, and continued fractions. Despite having no formal training, Ramanujan was eventually recognized by mathematicians at Cambridge University, where he was elected as a Fellow.