When was Georg von Békésy born?

Georg von Békésy was born on 3 June 1899 in Budapest.

Where did Georg von Békésy study?

Georg von Békésy was educated at Eötvös Loránd University, University of Bern.

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Georg von Békésy

Hungarian physicist (1899–1972)

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Georg von Békésy (Hungarian: Békésy György, pronounced [ˈbeːkeːʃi ˈɟørɟ]; 3 June 1899 – 13 June 1972) was a Hungarian-American biophysicist.

Quick facts

Born: 3 June 1899 wd
Place of birth: Budapest wd
Died: 13 June 1972 wd
Place of death: Honolulu wd
Citizenship: Hungary, United States wd
Occupation: physicist, neuroscientist, chemist, autobiographer, university teacher, physiologist wd
Education: Eötvös Loránd University, University of Bern wd

Awards wd

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1961)
Silver Leibniz medal (1937)
honorary doctor of Semmelweis University (1969)
ASA Gold Medal
Howard Crosby Warren Medal (1955)

About

By using strobe photography and silver flakes as a marker, he was able to observe that the basilar membrane moves like a surface wave when stimulated by sound. Because of the structure of the cochlea and the basilar membrane, different frequencies of sound cause the maximum amplitudes of the waves to occur at different places on the basilar membrane along the coil of the cochlea. High frequencies cause more vibration at the base of the cochlea while low frequencies create more vibration at the apex.

He concluded that his observations showed how different sound wave frequencies are locally dispersed before exciting different nerve fibers that lead from the cochlea to the brain.

In 1961, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his research on the function of the cochlea in the mammalian hearing organ.

In his last publication A. James Hudspeth and his research team – based on "a groundbreaking technological advancement" – ultimately established that also in mammals frequency analysis in the inner ear is accomplished by tuned hairs cells. This process occurs without a traveling wave (surface wave) on the basilar membrane, and the inner ear theory of Békésy was thus disproved.

Questions

When was Georg von Békésy born?: Georg von Békésy was born on 3 June 1899 in Budapest.
Where did Georg von Békésy study?: Georg von Békésy was educated at Eötvös Loránd University, University of Bern.

Sources

Last updated 1 November 2026 · facts checked 6 November 2026

Cite this page

"Georg von Békésy". DigiNepal. Last updated 1 November 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/georg-von-bekesy. Retrieved 6 November 2026.

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Text from the Wikipedia article Georg von Békésy, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: Georg von Békésy nobel.jpg — The Nobel Foundation, Public domain.

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