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Alexander Grothendieck


In isolation, Alexander Grothendieck seemed to have lost touch with reality, but some say his metaphysical theories could contain wonders

Chinese telecoms giant Huawei believes his esoteric concept of the topos could be key to building the next generation of AI, and has hired Fields medal-winner Laurent Lafforgue to explore this subject. Above Matthieu’s bed is a garish portrait of his paternal grandfather, Alexander Schapiro, a Ukrainian Jewish anarchist who lost an arm escaping a tsarist prison, and later fought in the Spanish civil war. He had cut ties with everyone By summer 1989, the prophetic dreams had intensified into daily audiences, “absorbing almost all of my time and energy”, with an angel Grothendieck called either Flora or Lucifera, depending on whether she manifested as benevolent or tormenting.

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