Ich Bin Ein Berliner

Rav Naphtali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin was born in Mir, Russia in 1816 to his father Jacob, a talmudic scholar, and his unidentified mother who was a direct descendant of Rabbi Meir Eisenstadt. The Netziv was placed in a regular cheder as a young child. The Netziv, however, was not a gifted child, and his parents then began discussing removing their son from cheder and putting him in trade school. But upon hearing the news, the Netziv then burst into tears and pleaded with his parents for one more year in cheder to prove himself--and he did.  When the first volumes of his famous work Hemek Shaila were printed he   said that had he not shed those tears he still would have become a successful Jew..  However, he said,  in heaven, God would have brought him a copy of the Sefer with his name in it as the author.  God would have explained to him that this was his destiny, but he lost out.
It didn't take long for him to catch up and by time the Netziv was 11 years old he was sent to learn in Volozhin.  Half a year after his Bar Mitzva, the Rosh Yeshiva Rav Itzele Volozhin the son of Rav Chaim Volozhin, saw him fit from all the other budding stars, to take him as a son-in-law.  Once asked if it was true that he learned twenty hours a day, the Netziv said he only learned sixteen hours a day.  However he added that he did this every day including Friday, Shabbos, and Yom Tov for 25 years straight.  On his wedding day he was no where to be found.  They finally found him in the local Bais Medrash as if it were an ordinary day.  He quickly washed up and changed and was taken to the Chupah. At the age of 30, the Netziv began teaching in Volozhin. At 36, in 1853, when his brother-in-law died, the Netziv took over as the Rosh Yeshiva of Volozhin. He held this position until 1892 when the Russians shut down the Yeshiva. After the shutdown, the Netziv moved to Warsaw in poor health. He dreamed of moving to Israel but it was not practical. He then died a year later on August 10, 1893. 
THe Netziv's legacy lives on through his books, notably the Haamek Hadaver, a commentary on the Chumash.  The Netziv was known for a more traditional approach, which was at odds with the highly analytical style of lomdus. The Netziv's life was the quintessential success story.