Extreme giftedness? Trading on the general education of child prodigies in the nineteenth century

Abstract

The child prodigy phenomenon expanded during and after the mid-19th century, nurtured by a growing entertainment industry in Europe. Prodigies were particularly popular in two domains —classical music and mental calculation. Many spent their early childhoods on tour and living abroad. This paper analyzes the problem of the general education of the child prodigy, and the parents’ and impresarios’ role in financially exploiting the child’s talent. I focus on virtuosos and arithmetic wonders who performed in France in the 19th century. These children rarely received regular schooling and many only learned to read and write once their years of glory as a prodigy passed, or when their lack of education became problematic. The consequences of neglecting the prodigy’s elementary studies were greater than parents and impresarios had anticipated. Illiteracy and a meager knowledge of the wider culture affected talent development. In the end, a lack of general education contributed to the deterioration of the child’s giftedness, accelerating the transition from prodigy to ordinary.