Jane Hawking is 82 years old as of October 2026. She was born on 29 March 1944.
Quick facts
Date of birth29 March 1944
Age82
NationalityBritish
BirthplaceSt Albans, United Kingdom
Editor's Take:
Jane Hawking matters because she gave the public a first-hand account of life beside one of the best-known scientists of modern times. Her memoir was written from the viewpoint of a carer and spouse, not a physicist, which shifted attention to the daily realities behind the fame. She also pursued her own scholarship, earning a doctorate so that she had an academic identity of her own in Cambridge. Her book reached a wide audience through a television film and then The Theory of Everything. Later, she continued writing, turning to a novel trilogy.
Key Milestones
1965: Married Stephen Hawking in St Albans
1981: Received her PhD in medieval Spanish poetry
1999: Published her first memoir, Music to Move the Stars
2009: Republished it in updated form as Travelling to Infinity
2014: The Theory of Everything, based on her memoir, was released
Jane Beryl Jones (née Wilde, formerly Hawking; born 29 March 1944) is an English author and teacher. She was married to Stephen Hawking for 30 years from 1965 until they divorced in 1995.
Jane Hawking was born in St Albans on 29 March 1944.
She grew up in St Albans and studied languages at Westfield College, part of the University of London.
She met Stephen Hawking in 1962, and the couple married in 1965, two years after his motor neuron disease diagnosis.
She completed a PhD in medieval Spanish poetry in 1981, and later wrote the memoir Travelling to Infinity.
Career highlights
1962Meeting Stephen Hawking: Introduced through mutual college friends
1965Marriage in St Albans: Wed despite his recent diagnosis
1981Doctorate awarded: PhD in medieval Spanish poetry
1999First memoir published: Music to Move the Stars appeared
2014Film adaptation released: The Theory of Everything reached cinemas
Did you know?Years before her memoirs, she published a practical handbook called At Home In France (1994), about purchasing and restoring homes in that country.
