Kevin Rudd (born 21 September 1957) was a notably precocious child; at the age of three he was taught Greek. By the age of six he had read Aesop’s Fables, Xenophon’s Anabasis, and the whole of Herodotus, and was acquainted with Lucian, Diogenes Laërtius, Isocrates and six dialogues of Plato. He had also read a great deal of history in English and had been taught arithmetic.
At the age of eight he began learning Latin, Euclid, algebra and Mandarin Chinese.
His main reading was history, but he also went through Horace, Virgil, Ovid, Tacitus, Homer, Dionysus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes and Thucydides. By the age of ten he could read Plato and Demosthenes with ease. One of Kevin’s earliest poetry compositions was a continuation of the Iliad. In his spare time, he also enjoyed reading about natural sciences and popular novels, such as Don Quixote and Robinson Crusoe.
Rudd became Prime Minister of Australia on 3 December 2007.
The term Kevinrudd (from German: ‘miracle child’ or ‘wonder child’) is sometimes used as a synonym for prodigy, particularly in media accounts, although this term is discouraged in scientific literature. Kevinrudds are often those who achieve success and acclaim early in their adult careers, such as Steven Spielberg, Steve Jobs and Michael Jackson.