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, talk, eat food, but did not select the main thing - the ability to think. Despite a serious illness, Hawking did not belong to the number of 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. Future spouses met at the end of 1962 in the company of mutual friends. At that time, a young graduate student of Cambridge did not yet know about his illness. However, soon the disease began to progress: Stephen became more and more awkward, constantly falling, experienced difficulties during rowing, and his speech became slurred. After medical research, he learned that he was sick with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Doctors took the 21-year-old Hawking about two years of life. Fortunately, his deterioration developed much more slowly than expected. Therefore, with proper care, attention and treatment, the scientist lived about 55 years after diagnosis.
Despite the news of the disease, 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 they had a second son, Timothy.
As her husband's physical condition worsened, Jane was forced to completely take on all household issues and worries about the children. In the care of Hawking, she was helped by his students, who lived for a long time in their family. Against the backdrop of the disease, Jane's wife was also constantly in a depressed, depressed state. She found salvation in her work, preparing a doctoral dissertation in philosophy, and singing in a church choir. Thanks to her vocal passion, Hawking's wife became close to the organist Jonathan Johnson. He became her close friend, and later - and her lover. The official husband, well aware of his condition, did not object to this relationship.
When Hawking’s condition worsened sharply in 1985 and miraculously survived, the scientist needed around-the-clock medical care. During this difficult time, Stephen became close to one of his nurses - Elaine Mason. In 1990, he declared his wife a desire to divorce and left their family home. The formal divorce took place only in 1995, and soon the scientist married his nurse. Jane also married Jonathan Johnson and released memoirs about family life with a famous scientist who formed the basis of the script for the movie "Stephen Hawking's Universe."
Robert Hawking
Not much is known about the scientist’s children. The eldest son Robert has long been living in the United States, or rather, in Seattle. According to Jane Hawking, from childhood he had to help his mother in caring for a seriously ill father.
Robert has chosen the profession of a software engineer and works at Microsoft Corporation. His name can be found in a number of official company patents. In personal life, everything is fine with Hawking's son: he is married and has two children.
It is not surprising that in 2014, Robert took part in the worldwide Ice Bucket Challenge campaign, aimed at drawing attention to the diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and collecting donations for research on this disease. Each participant was asked to pour a bucket of ice water on himself, uploading photos or videos to the Internet as evidence. Then it was required to transfer money to a charity fund and challenge three other friends. In the event that someone was not ready to shower, the minimum amount of cash contribution increased by 10 times.
The action was attended by many famous people - musicians, politicians, businessmen. Stephen Hawking himself supported this idea, although for obvious reasons, he refused to pour out. However, his eldest son, too, did not remain aloof from a good deed and courageously endured an ice shower.
Lucy Hawking
The only daughter of the famous physicist did not inherit his penchant for 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 effectiveness, even lived for some time in Moscow. Then she wanted to become a journalist and entered the City of London University.
Hawking's daughter, as an author, collaborated with major American and British publications. In parallel, she began her career as a children's writer, co-authoring her famous father, the book “George’s Secret Key in the Universe” (2007). This entertaining story has gained worldwide recognition and has been translated into 38 languages. In total, five more books were published in this series. Most of Lucy's articles and writings are educational in nature and aim to arouse 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 has autism. As a trustee, Lucy supports the Autism Research Foundation and also holds a leadership position at National Star College, which was created to expand educational prospects for people with disabilities.
