A child prodigy is a person under the age of 13 who is capable of excelling in at least one area of skill at a level that is considered to be an adult level in that field. There are child prodigies in all different skills areas including music, math, chess, the arts, and so on.
Below are ten amazing child prodigies in different skills areas at different periods throughout history.
1. Pablo Picasso
Not only is Pablo Picasso a famous artist, but he was also a child prodigy in the arts. One of his most well-known pieces of artwork, The Picador, was created in the late nineteenth century when he was only eight years old. He began exhibiting his art by the age of 15.
Pablo Picasso
2. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart is widely known as one of the world's greatest child prodigies in music for the amazing musical achievements which he mastered at an early age. Born in 1756, Mozart began playing the harpsichord at age 3 and could read and play music by age 5.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
3. Sergey Karjakin
This Ukrainian boy achieved the title of Grandmaster in Chess at the age of 12, a record-breaking achievement that occurred in 2002. As the youngest person to hold the title of Grandmaster, Karjakin is known to be among the top chess prodigies of all times.
Sergey Karjakin
4. Cho Hunhyun
Another game that is considered to be quite difficult is the Chinese game of Go. However, there are people out there like Cho Hunhyun who managed to become a professional Go player in 1962 when he was only nine years old.
Cho Hunhyun
5. William James Sidis
William James Sidis, who was born at the turn of the twentieth century, was such a prodigy in both math and linguistics that he was accepted to attend Harvard University when he was only eleven years old. Interestingly, he stayed from math entirely in his later years but is still considered to be one of the most intelligent people ever born.
William James Sidis
6. March Tian Boedihardjo
This boy got into a Hong Kong University at the age of 9, the youngest student ever accepted to college in Hong Kong. It is interesting to see what this child prodigy opts to do with his life now that he's getting closer to college graduation as well as to his teenage years!
March Tian Boedihardjo
7. William Cullen Bryant
This man is another poet who gained adult-level praise for his work before the age of 13 and so is regarded as a child prodigy of poetry. He was born in the early nineteenth century and published his first book at the age of ten. By the age of 13, he had completed a book of satire poems that were widely recognized for their advanced quality.
William Cullen Bryant
8. Lucretia Maria Davidson
Lucretia Maria Davidson born in the early nineteenth century was a child prodigy of words who made her mark as a striking poet of her time before the age of 11. Sadly, her work as a poet lasted only five years because her life ended short due to death by tuberculosis.
Lucretia Maria Davidson
