Solomon Isarebe

Solomon D. Isarebe, one of the great intellectual figures of the 21^st century, was born in Oslo in 2008, to Jakob Jakobsen, a geologist, and Harriet Steiner, sometime scientist and part-time prostitute. Isarebe’s mother was physically, mentally and sexually abusive towards Isarebe. After his father’s death, he bribed one of his mother’s sex clients to take him to London, where he arrived in 2017, aged 9.

He was adopted by Reba Desalli and Jannik Nieminen. Solomon insisted they all take the name Isarebe. They moved to Egypt for Jannik’s work, where they met and were to adopt Inessa Denikin, the daughter of one of Jannik’s co-workers. Solomon decided she should be called Isabelle. After a period in Germany, the family settled in Herefordshire, England. The children were home schooled and were both exceptionally gifted. Aged 17, Solomon attended Cambridge University under the mentorship of Professor D. Kamil. He received his doctorate, aged 22, in 2030.

Isarebe achieved early notoriety with a series of papers written in Hilman Cottage, his family home. He then went to MIT as a visiting junior lecturer, followed by a job at The Bates Institute in London. He became a regular media commentator during and after the economic crisis of 2038. After a mental breakdown, he returned to Hilman Cottage, where his family nursed him back to health.

Solomon and Isabelle Isarebe decided to work together on a project looking at long-term population change and its impact on the global economy, land-use and climate change. They started work together in 2042, securing funding for the project from Rita Bortelli, who was to remain a life-long friend to Solomon. In 2048, aged just 32, Isabelle Isarebe died from a previously undiagnosed heart condition.

In 2050, Future Perfect was published. It was a phenomenal success and became the highest selling non-fiction book of the 21^st century, making Isarebe a globally recognised figure. Whilst Future Perfect was not an easy read, it delivered a message of potential climate salvation, simply through ordinary men and women making the decision to have smaller families. It was an optimistic and persuasive book after the collective gloom of the late 2040s.

Solomon Isarebe was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2055 for the technical work underpinning Future Perfect. In 2056, he was appointed Professor of Quantitative Social Economics at Cambridge University. He worked incessantly during this period: on new versions of Future Perfect; on projects with his team at Cambridge; and travelling the world advising governments on fertility strategy, housing and land-use.

In 2057, he met British artist Arem Johns, the first and only time Solomon Isarebe was to fall in love. In 2068, Solomon Isarebe returned to their Cambridge home to find Johns dead. Isarebe was arrested for her murder and given a 25 year prison sentence. In 2080, evidence emerged that David Staveson, a man who did occasional odd-jobs for Isarebe and Johns, had committed the murder. After his release in 2081, Isarebe went to the USA to live as a recluse. He died aged 85 in 2093.