When was Eugene Wigner born?

Eugene Wigner was born on 17 November 1902 in Budapest.

Where did Eugene Wigner study?

Eugene Wigner was educated at Fasori Gimnázium, Technische Universität Berlin.

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Eugene Wigner

Hungarian-American physicist and mathematician (1902–1995)

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Eugene Paul Wigner (Hungarian: Wigner Jenő Pál, pronounced [ˈviɡnɛr ˈjɛnøː ˈpaːl]; November 17, 1902 – January 1, 1995) was a Hungarian-American theoretical physicist who also contributed to mathematical physics. He received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1963 "for his contributions to the theory of the atomic nucleus and the elementary particles, particularly through the discovery and application of fundamental symmetry principles".

Quick facts

Born: 17 November 1902 wd
Place of birth: Budapest wd
Died: 1 January 1995 wd
Place of death: Princeton wd
Citizenship: Hungary, United States wd
Occupation: mathematician, physicist, university teacher, theoretical physicist, nuclear physicist wd
Education: Fasori Gimnázium, Technische Universität Berlin wd
Spouse: Amelia Frank, Mary Annette Wheeler, Eileen Clare-Patton Hamilton wd

Awards wd

Nobel Prize in Physics (1963)
Max Planck Medal (1961)
Enrico Fermi Award (1958)
Albert Einstein Award (1972)
National Medal of Science (1969)
Wigner Medal (1978)
Josiah Willard Gibbs Lectureship (1968)
Franklin Medal (1950)
Richtmyer Memorial Lecture Award (1955)
Fellow of the American Physical Society
Foreign Member of the Royal Society (1970)
John von Neumann Prize (1966)
Medal for Merit (1946)
Atoms for Peace Award (1960)

About

A graduate of the Technical Hochschule Berlin (now Technische Universität Berlin), Wigner worked as an assistant to Karl Weissenberg and Richard Becker at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin, and David Hilbert at the University of Göttingen. Wigner and Hermann Weyl were responsible for introducing group theory into physics, particularly the theory of symmetry in physics. Along the way he performed ground-breaking work in pure mathematics, in which he authored a number of mathematical theorems. In particular, Wigner's theorem is a cornerstone in the mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics. He is also known for his research into the structure of the atomic nucleus. In 1930, Princeton University recruited Wigner, along with John von Neumann, and he moved to the United States, where he obtained citizenship in 1937.

Wigner participated in a meeting with Leo Szilard and Albert Einstein that resulted in the Einstein–Szilard letter, which prompted President Franklin D. Roosevelt to authorize the creation of the Advisory Committee on Uranium with the purpose of investigating the feasibility of nuclear weapons. Wigner was afraid that the German nuclear weapon project would develop an atomic bomb first. During the Manhattan Project, he led a team whose task was to design nuclear reactors to convert uranium into weapons grade plutonium. At the time, reactors existed only on paper, and no reactor had yet gone critical. Wigner was…

Questions

When was Eugene Wigner born?: Eugene Wigner was born on 17 November 1902 in Budapest.
Where did Eugene Wigner study?: Eugene Wigner was educated at Fasori Gimnázium, Technische Universität Berlin.

Sources

Last updated 1 November 2026 · facts checked 5 November 2026

Cite this page

"Eugene Wigner". DigiNepal. Last updated 1 November 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/eugene-wigner. Retrieved 5 November 2026.

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Text from the Wikipedia article Eugene Wigner, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: Wigner.jpg — Nobel foundation, Public domain.

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