A Tortured Genius

William James Sidis, born (1898) was an intellectual phenomenon. During his early childhood he achieved far beyond that of even the most confident graduate.

As a child: he began typing original research as a toddler; devised new mathematical formulas; acquired self-taught fluency in eight languages; and won himself a place in Harvard college as a student, all before he reached the innocent age of just ten years old.

His academic capability was truly remarkable. He possessed the intellectual capacity to meet Harvard’s requirements at nine, however due to his immaturity he was held back for two years. He corrected university-levelled textbooks as a stint, and tried to find any flaws in Einsteins relativity theory.

Boris Sidis, William’s father, specialised in psychology and believed in his idea of "making a progeny a prodigy.” Streaked with ambition, Boris emotionally manipulated his son to prove the validity of his own research. He instilled into William that anything other than perfection is equivalent with failure — brewing an infinite search for perfection that consumed William’s life. Alas, even a genius cannot achieve perfect… He was fluent in many tongues, yet, was without social grace. His parent’s teachings neglected the art of charm, rendering him socially inept - and as a result this hampered his contacts with peers and paparazzi.

All too soon this world descended upon the five-year-old William, when his father so freely gave the press access to his quarters. The rally between William and his journalists commenced, and from then onward he was forced to face first-hand the fickleness of fame.

William encountered numerous oppressions from society, coupled with the fact that he was not yet equipped to handle it. After graduation William taught trigonometry at Harvard, where he received physical threats at the hands of his students (all older than him) and grew livid with his poor treatment from staff. William left his post in less than a year, and his bitterness towards the world was exacberated by the relentless bullying he endured. Consequently, this caused him to further withdraw into himself.

During one interview, he declared his vow to remain celibate, and that he’d already declined six proposals of marriage. He also noted to turn down rather heartlessly all forthcoming interests in the future.

In 1919, William lead his comrades on protest at a socialist parade. He had been badly beaten and arrested for his involvement, by which he told the court that he believes in evolution; that he does not believe in a god. William carried a red flag, and when asked of its importance he said, “it stood for the common blood of humanity.” He was sentenced to 18 months in jail for his rebellion.

He was released on bail, but only to be shoved into a new kind of hell as he was later labelled insane:

He was sent to live with his father in the sanatorium he ran. With the reporters again on William’s back, Boris continued his escapade, and in return William further resented his parents.

He refused to respect a man so blind with ambition that he could not see outside his own desires. As William aged he left the sanatorium to never speak with his parents again, skipping his fathers funeral altogether.

William’s emotional intimacy was challenged during the socialist parade. As an asocial recluse he failed to find pleasure in many people’s company, however, his steel cynicism fell weak in the presence of Martha Foley.

William was drawn to her as a near intellectual peer, socialist and feminist. (Who had also marched alongside him.) In his attempt to pursue the "perfect life" he was still not immune to his emotional side despite his many attempts at suppression.

To his grief, however, his love eventually went unrequited: Martha wedded another man and later bore a son.

What I found most upstanding of William’s character, was his bout of bravery during his final feud with reporters. One reporter had spawned, hell-bent on faking their allegiance to tear William down even further. William read of his betrayal in the papers, and profoundly refused to cower at their feet. Without the trust of a lawyer he used his own background in law, to which he outsmarted his opposition, earning a sum of money as a trophy. After his death it was still left in his account, untouched, symbolic of his only triumph over the media.

William continued to work full-time menial jobs as a cover, while he wrote his true work in the shadows. The media continued to slander him as a “prodigious failure” but they were unaware that he lived a highly productive life, publishing many articles under humorous pseudonyms, in order to avoid fame.

Sadly, and ironically, he passed away at age 46, by the same brain malady that had struck his father years earlier. William was found unconscious in his apartment, with a picture of Martha Foley in his wallet.

*Authors Note: Published 2019. This had been published in 2016 under an old pseudonym of mine, however it has been since removed and partially edited. I wanted to bring to light the story of William Sidis told as best as I could with the information I received. It baffles me this man has simply slipped through main stream media with a story such as his. At the time of writing this when I was about 19, there were rarely any articles on him. So I am glad to see people are contributing to his story.