Shakuntala Devi Height, Weight, Age, Facts, Biography

Shakuntala Devi was an Indian writer, mental calculator, astrologer, and social worker who is considered a human genius. She worked tirelessly to simplify mathematics and was also included in the 1982 edition of The Guinness Book of World Records.

Born Name

Shakuntala Devi

Nick Name

Human Computer

Age

She was born on November 4, 1929.

Died

Shakuntala Devi passed away at the age of 83 on April 21, 2013, in Bangalore, Karnataka, India after suffering from complications of the heart and kidneys.

Sun Sign

Scorpio

Born Place

Bangalore, Princely State of Mysore, British India (Later: Karnataka, India)

Nationality

Occupation

Writer, Mental Calculator, Social Worker, Astrologer

Family

• Father – Bishaw Mitra Mani (Trapeze Artist, Lion Tamer, Tightrope Walker, Magician)

Build

Average

Height

5 ft 2 in or 157.5 cm

Weight

60 kg or 132 lbs

Boyfriend / Spouse

Shakuntala Devi had dated –

1. Paritosh Banerji (1965-1979) – She was married to Paritosh Banerji, an officer of the Indian Administrative Service from Kolkata, and the duo was blessed with a daughter named Anupama Banerji. However, the couple divorced in 1979 due to personal issues. It was later revealed that he was a homos*xual.

Race / Ethnicity

Asian (Indian)

Shakuntala Devi was of Kannada Brahmin descent.

Hair Color

Black

Eye Color

Dark Brown

Sexual Orientation

Straight

Distinctive Features

• A mathematic genius
• Pierced ears
• Usually sported short hair

Shakuntala Devi Facts

1. She was 3 years old when her father realized her abilities to memorize numbers while he was teaching her a card trick.
2. Shakuntala Devi showcased her arithmetic abilities at the University of Mysore when she was 6. Also, she did that without having received any formal education.
3. Along with her father, she shifted to London, England, in the year 1944 and later returned to India in the mid-1960s.
4. She wrote a number of books on mathematics, puzzles, and astrology.
5. Shakuntala Devi’s book titled The world of Homos*xuals is considered the pioneer in the study of homosexuality in India, a work that also treats the topic in a positive light. However, she also had to face criticism for it.
6. In her book, Figuring: The Joy of Numbers, she explained the various methods used by her to do mental calculations.
7. She also contested in the Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate, from Mumbai South and from Medak in part of Telangana, in 1980.
8. The short documentary, For Straights Only, was released in 2001 and there Shakuntala Devi revealed that her interest in homos*xuality originated from her marriage to a homos*xual man and her desire to take a closer look at the topic.
9. She was honored with a Google Doodle on what would have been her 84th birthday on November 4, 2013.
10. In May 2019, it was announced that a film based on Shakuntala Devi’s life would be released in summer 2020. The biographical film stars (as Shakuntala Devi), Jisshu Sengupta, , and and was planned to be released theatrically on May 8, 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was decided that the film would be streamed worldwide on Amazon Prime Video on July 31, 2020.

Featured Image by HetveeSPatel / / CC BY-SA 4.0