David Hilbert

1862 – 1943 · died at about 81^[1][2]

Science & Invention

Fun Facts About David Hilbert

• David Hilbert, asked by Nazi education minister Bernhard Rust whether Göttingen's Mathematical Institute had suffered from the departure of the Jews, replied that it no longer existed.^[1]
• Hilbert's tombstone carries the closing lines of his 1930 retirement address, a reply to the maxim "We do not know and we shall not know." The day before, Kurt Gödel first announced his incompleteness theorem.^[1]
• Hilbert reportedly said that in geometry, points, lines and planes could be replaced by tables, chairs and glasses of beer.^[1]
• Among Hilbert's students was chess champion Emanuel Lasker, and John von Neumann worked as his assistant.^[1]
• In 1915 Hilbert invited Albert Einstein to lecture in Göttingen, then published the field equations of gravity nearly at the same time as Einstein, while fully crediting Einstein with the theory.^[1][3][4]
• Hilbert started school at age eight, two years late. He later attended the same school Immanuel Kant had attended 140 years before.^[1][5][6]
• David Hilbert was alive at the same time as Joe Biden — their lives overlapped for 1 year (1942–1943).^[1][2][7][8]
• David Hilbert and Captain James Cook died on the same day of the year, February 14.^{[1][2][9][10]}

David Hilbert was a German mathematician and philosopher of mathematics and one of the most influential mathematicians of all time.^[1]

Contemporaries

Nikola Tesla

81 yr overlap

Max Planck

81 yr overlap

George Bernard Shaw

81 yr overlap

Henry Ford

80 yr overlap

Edvard Munch

80 yr overlap

Rabindranath Tagore

79 yr overlap

Sigmund Freud

77 yr overlap

H.G. Wells

77 yr overlap

Frank Lloyd Wright

76 yr overlap

John D. Rockefeller

75 yr overlap

Mahatma Gandhi

74 yr overlap

Henri Matisse

74 yr overlap

Their World

Questions About David Hilbert

When was David Hilbert born?

David Hilbert was born on January 23, 1862, and died on February 14, 1943.

How old was David Hilbert at death?

David Hilbert was born on January 23, 1862, and died on February 14, 1943, at age 81.

What was David Hilbert known for?

David Hilbert was known for: German mathematician of Hilbert's problems. David Hilbert was a German mathematician and philosopher of mathematics and one of the most influential mathematicians of all time.

Who was alive at the same time as David Hilbert?

David Hilbert's closest contemporary was Nikola Tesla. Their lives overlapped for 81 years.