Stephen Hawking in one word? GENIUS! He has lived almost half of his life suffering from a progressive paralytic medical condition known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) but through it all, this guy has made groundbreaking inventions that would give his far healthier counterparts the run for their money.
An English theoretical physicist, Hawking attained celebrity status in the 1970s after the invention of his Hawking Radiation — he proved that matter, in the form of radiation, can escape the gravitational force of a collapsed star, a phenom that was until then said to be impossible.
As Hawking made more discoveries, so did his celebrity status surge. The world became more interested in what went on not only in his labs but in his personal life as well. Hawking died on 14 March 2018, at the age of 76, the family did not disclose the cause of death but said he “died peacefully” at his home in Cambridge, England. Let’s explore a few of the latter.
Stephen Hawking Wife Children, Grandchildren
There are many versions of the story of Stephen Hawking and his wife, especially the first one Jane Hawking. As the story goes, they had met while they were in graduate school and began dating before Hawking was diagnosed with ALS.
After the diagnosis, Jane stuck with him and even accepted to marry him, this encouraged Hawkings to make the best out of the time the doctors said he had left.
Hawking and Jane got married in 1965. About two years later in May 1967, the couple welcomed their first issue, a son named Robert. Another, a daughter named Lucy came in 1970 and their third and last child, a son named Timothy was born in April 1979. Hawkings has at least three grandchildren.
However, by the 1980s their relationship wasn’t as rosy. Jane who had picked up a new interest in music had fallen in love with her organist Jonathan Hellyer Jones, but ultimately she didn’t allow her love for Jones to break her marriage. Jones would later become a friend of the Hawkings but that didn’t last.
In the late 1980s, Hawking developed a romantic relationship with one of his caregivers named Eliane Mason. As a result, he left his family home in 1990 and after finalizing his divorce from Jane in 1995, married Eliane the same year. However, there were reports that their union was marked by domestic abuse with Hawking as the victim. Two years later in 1997, Jane married Jones.
The abuse claims led to investigations but Hawking refused to aid authorities in investigations, choosing to keep mum. His relationship with his kids and relatives also became strained.
However, by 2006, Hawking seemed to have had enough as he and Mason quietly divorced. He then developed a working relationship with his first wife Jane and restored his relationship with their kids.
Jane has written an autobiography about her marriage to Hawking titled Music to Move the Stars: A Life with Stephen (1999). In 2007 the book was republished under the new title Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen.
IQ
Hawking’s Intelligence Quotient (IQ) has been evaluated at 160. As a matter of fact, Stephen hails from a family of geniuses. His both parents were greatly outstanding in their own fields and despite not being rich were able to attend the prestigious University of Oxford thanks to scholarships they earned.
Stephen would grow to follow the same path and become even more celebrated than his parents. His father was a parasitologist while his mother’s discipline included Philosophy, Politics, and Economy.
Is He Dead?
Some conspiracy theorists have argued the possibility of Hawking still being alive to his day. They speculate that the Hawking we now see is only but a clone while noting some changes including that ALS does little to affect the appearance of the teeth and that Hawking looks far younger compared to someone his age suffering from a disease.
From credible sources, Stephen died early Wednesday morning on 14 March 2018. He was 76, having been born in 1942.
After being diagnosed with ALS during his final years at Oxford, doctors said the case was a progressive one and thus, estimated that he had approximately 3 more years to live. Hawkings beat those numbers and went on to achieve great things in life.
Net Worth: $20 million
Hawking’s works have made him not only celebrated and revered but rich. The many accolades he’s been honored with come with cash, like the Special Fundamental Physics Prize in 2012 which came with $3 million. Stephen Hawking’s net worth is estimated at $20 million.
