Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi was a German mathematician who co-founded the theory of elliptic functions. A child prodigy, Jacobi developed an affinity for mathematics from a young age. He received his early education in mathematics from his uncle Lehman who home schooled him. His remarkable abilities and excellence at the subject reflected at an early age—at twelve, he was ready for university level of studies. However, due to age restrictions, he entered Berlin University, at the age of 16, in 1821. Attaining his doctorate degree, Jacobi took up the profile of a university professor, a position which he served for the better part of his life. It was while serving as a mathematics professor that he made fundamental contributions to elliptic functions, dynamics, differential equations and number theory. He penned a vast amount of manuscripts, some of which were published in his lifetime and some posthumously. Interestingly, born with a Jewish parentage, Jacobi turned himself into a Christian to qualify for a university position