> the next Newton, Euler, or Einstein

Of course I disagree with the proposal in the post, but I wonder... how much real encouragement did Newton, Euler and Einstein get (or need) when they were young? Could anybody have stood in their way? Ramanujan got as little encouragement as one could imagine but still ended up as one of the greatest mathematicians of his time - but on the other hand, maybe he would have been even greater if he had had more opportunities.