The famous scientist Stephen Hawking spent most of his life in a state of helplessness. An incurable disease, progressing every year, gradually deprived him of the ability to move, speak, eat, but did not take away the main thing - the ability to think. Despite a serious illness, Hawking was not one of the people deprived of love and family joys. He married twice and managed to become the father of three children.
Jane Wilde - the mother of his children
Stephen Hawking has been married to Jane Wilde for 30 years. The future spouses met at the end of 1962 in the company of mutual friends. At that time, the young Cambridge graduate student was not yet aware of his illness. However, the disease soon began to progress: Stephen became more and more awkward, constantly fell, experienced difficulties while rowing, and his speech became slurred. After medical research, he learned that he was sick with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Doctors gave the 21-year-old Hawking about two years of life. Fortunately, his deterioration progressed much more slowly than expected. Therefore, with proper care, attention and treatment, the scientist lived for about 55 years after the diagnosis.
Despite the news of the illness, Jane did not abandon her lover. In 1965 they became husband and wife. Two years after the wedding, the eldest son Robert was born to the couple. In 1970, his younger sister Lucy was born. Finally, in 1979, the Hawking family expanded for the third time when their second son, Timothy, was born.
As her husband's physical condition deteriorated, Jane was forced to take full responsibility for all household issues and childcare. In caring for Hawking, she was helped by his students, who lived in their family for a long time. Against the background of the illness, Jane's wife was also constantly in a depressed, depressed state. She found salvation in work, preparing her doctoral dissertation in philosophy, and singing in the church choir. Thanks to her vocal infatuation, Hawking's wife became close to organist Jonathan Johnson. He became her close friend, and later - and lover. The official husband, perfectly aware of his condition, did not object to this relationship.
When Hawking's condition deteriorated sharply in 1985 and he miraculously survived, the scientist required round-the-clock medical care. During this difficult time, Stephen became close to one of his nurses - Elaine Mason. In 1990, he announced his desire to divorce his wife and left their family home. The official divorce took place only in 1995, and soon the scientist married his nurse. Jane also married Jonathan Johnson and released a memoir about family life with the famous scientist, which formed the basis of the script for the film "Universe of Stephen Hawking."
Robert Hawking
Not too much is known about the children of the scientist. The eldest son Robert has been living in the United States for a long time, or rather, in Seattle. According to Jane Hawking, from childhood he had to help his mother in caring for a seriously ill father.
Robert chose the profession of software engineer and works for Microsoft Corporation. His name can be found on a number of official company patents. In the personal life of Hawking's son, everything is also fine: he is married and has two children.
Unsurprisingly, in 2014, Robert took part in the global Ice Bucket Challenge campaign to raise awareness of the diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and to raise donations for research on the disease. Each participant was asked to pour a bucket of ice water on themselves, uploading a photo or video to the Internet as evidence. Then it was required to transfer money to a charitable foundation and challenge three more of their acquaintances. In case someone was not ready to take a shower, the minimum amount of the monetary contribution increased 10 times.
Many famous people took part in the action - musicians, politicians, businessmen. Stephen Hawking himself supported this idea, although, for obvious reasons, he refused to douse it. However, his eldest son also did not stay away from the good deed and bravely endured the ice shower.
Lucy Hawking
The only daughter of the famous physicist did not inherit his penchant for the exact sciences. Following the example of her mother, she developed better in the humanitarian direction, so she became a journalist, teacher and children's writer. Lucy graduated from Oxford University, where she studied Russian and French, and for greater efficiency she even lived in Moscow for some time. Then she wanted to become a journalist and entered the City University of London.
Hawking's daughter has collaborated with major American and British publications as an author. In parallel, she embarked on a career as a children's writer, co-authored with her famous father, George's Secret Key in the Universe (2007). This entertaining story has received worldwide recognition and has been translated into 38 languages. In total, five more books have been published in this series. Most of Lucy's articles and writings are educational in nature and aim to awaken children's interest in science.
In 1998-2004, the journalist was married for a short time. She has a son, William, who was born in 1997 and is autistic. As a trustee, Lucy supports the Autism Research Foundation and also holds a leadership position at National Stellar College, which was created to expand educational prospects for people with disabilities.
Timothy Hawking
Stephen Hawking's youngest son said that in early childhood he still managed to hear the real voice of his father. True, as a result of the illness, the scientist's speech by that time had almost completely lost any intelligibility. Soon, a special computer speech synthesizer was developed for him, which Hawking used for the rest of his life, controlling it first with his hands, and in recent years with the movements of the muscles of his cheek.
Like any child, Timothy loved to misbehave. For example, he rode in his father's wheelchair, imagining himself a participant in a go-kart competition. Hawking's youngest son also tried several times to program swear words into his voice computer.
Timothy attended the Universities of Birmingham and Exeter. He works in the marketing department of the renowned Lego toy company.
