Sentenced - Northern Lights

As for school education, then Ludwig grew up completely ignorant. My father gave him to Nikolaus Ruppert's elementary church school, but, making sure that the boy wasted time there, he took him from there. When Ludwig was in his tenth year, a good friend of mine, Johann Stepan Zambon, discovered that he was not versed in anything but music, and set about to teach him grammar, logic and languages ​​- Latin, French, Italian. He did not master the secrets of the multiplication table until the end of his life - this, alas, is a fact confirmed by documents from Beethoven’s archive: he repeatedly added up the sums, not knowing how to multiply them. But maybe the lack of school education did Beethoven not only bad, but also good service: he used to reach everything with his mind, and this mind turned out to be strong, free,inquisitive and not obscured by once inspired - or even driven - schemes and rules. He had great respect for learning in the highest sense of the word, and none of the outstanding contemporaries who spoke with Beethoven subsequently considered him intellectual irregular to himself.