SRINIVASA RAMANUJAN, whose death was announced in NATURE of June 3, was born in 1888, in the neighbourhood of Madras, the son of poor parents, and a Brahmin by caste. I know very little of his early history or education, but he became a student in Madras University, and passed certain examinations, though he did not complete the course for a degree. Later he was employed by the Madras Port Trust as a clerk at a salary equivalent to about 25l. a year. By this time, however, reports of his unusual abilities had begun to spread, and, I believe owing to the intervention of Dr. G. T. Walker, he obtained a small scholarship which relieved him from the necessity of office work and set him free for research.