• Catherine Lucy Hawking was born in Cambridge, England in 1970 and holds British nationality.
• She is a journalist, philanthropist, educator and novelist, and is the daughter of Stephen Hawking.
• Lucy graduated from Oxford University and City University of London, and worked as a radio journalist and magazine writer.
• She is an author of children’s books, and has been recognized by NASA and the Amsterdam News Educational Foundation.
• She is married and has a son, and is an active philanthropist and traveler.



Short Info

SpouseAlex Mackenzie Smith

Who is Lucy Hawking?

Catherine Lucy Hawking was born in Cambridge, England, on 2 November 1970 – her zodiac sign is Scorpio, and she holds British nationality. She’s a journalist, philanthropist, educator and novelist, who’s also known for being the daughter of Stephen Hawking, a world-famous British theoretical physicist and cosmologist.

Early life and education

Lucy was raised in Cambridge, alongside her brothers Timothy and Robert Hawking, by their father and their mother Jane Wilde Hawking who’s an author – her most recent book “Cry to Dream Again” was published in 2018. Lucy and her family also spent a couple of years in Pasadena, California USA while she was growing up.

Looking up to her father, Lucy focused on her studies from an early age, dreaming of becoming as successful as him; after he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease and his health had begun to decline, Lucy took care of her father more than her other siblings. She was physically highly active while attending a local high school, as she played both soccer and tennis, and she was also into acting with the school’s drama club, appearing in various plays performed both at the school and a local theatre.

Upon matriculating in 1989, Lucy enrolled at Oxford University in England, from which she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in French and Russian in 1993; during those four years, she also spent some time learning Russian in Moscow.

She continued her education at City University of London, wanting to pursue a Master’s degree in international journalism, but dropped out after realizing that it wasn’t her calling.

Lucy’s career

Upon graduating from Oxford, Lucy began writing articles for various magazines, including “New York” magazine, “The Daily Mail” and “The Telegraph”, while her articles could then have been read in “The Times”, “The Guardian” and “The London Evening Standard”; she also spent some time working as a radio journalist.

Lucy worked on her first book in her spare time, and her debut novel “Jaded” was published in 2004. Her second novel “Run for Your Life”, also known as “The Accidental Marathon” followed in 2005, then two years later, Lucy transitioned to children’s books and published “George’s Secret Key to the Universe” in 2007.

The book was co-written by Lucy’s father and his Ph.D. student Christopher Galfard, and became very popular, as it was translated into close than 40 languages and published in nearly 50 countries. There are five other books in this children’s book series, including “George’s Cosmic Treasure Hunt”, published in 2009, the 2014 “George and the Unbreakable Code”, and the 2018 “George and the Ship of Time”.

Lucy and her British publisher Curved House Kids received funding from the UK Space Agency in 2015, and she then wrote the book “Principia Space Diary”, which reached more than 50,000 students in the UK, and was nominated for a British Interplanetary Society Sir Arthur Clarke Award for Excellence in Space Education.

Lucy had become interested in writing books after one of her son’s friends asked her father about black holes, to which Stephen responded that he would ‘turn into spaghetti’; the boy loved the answer, and Lucy then went on to author books centered around teaching science to children.

Awards and accolades

In April 2008, Lucy was honored by NASA and invited to talk on science education and children in their 50th birthday lecture series; she used her speech to point out the importance of engaging children in science from an early age – a couple of months later, Lucy was presented with the Italian Sapio Prize for Popularizing Science Worldwide.

Arizona State University invited Lucy to work as writer-in-residence on their Origins Project in 2010.

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She gave a speech at the festival BrainSTEM: Your Future Is Now, held in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada in 2013.

Lucy then gave a speech at the Dubai’s Emirates Airline Festival in March 2017, and was three months later recognized by the Amsterdam News Educational Foundation, together with two other women who had encouraged children to pursue science.

Love life and husband

Lucy prefers to keep details of her love life to herself, but has still let her fans have a glimpse into it. She met Alex Mackenzie Smith while they were both attending Oxford University, and in 1997 Lucy gave birth to their son William.

She and Alex married in the following year, in a large ceremony attended by many of their friends and family members, but they divorced in 2004.

William has been diagnosed as autistic, and Lucy has revealed that he’s been an inspiration to her, and that she has become a supporter of people on the autism spectrum.

Lucy hasn’t spoken of any other men whom she has perhaps been with, so as of April 2022, she appears to be single, was once married to Alex Mackenzie Smith, and they have a son together.

Hobbies and interesting facts

Lucy’s quite active on Instagram, and has uploaded over 100 pictures onto the network, while she’s today followed by more than 3,000 people.

Most of her pictures serve to express her opinion on various matters, and Lucy has revealed that she’s today paying close attention to what’s going on in Ukraine, and that she supports the Ukrainian people.

She’s passionate about travelling, and has been to many European countries and US states, while she’s also been to a couple of Asian and African countries; Lucy’s dream travel destination is Athens, Greece.

She’s a philanthropist, and is today the vice president of the independent specialist further education institution National Star College, which aims to help people with various disabilities; she’s also actively working with the Autism Research Trust.

Lucy’s a fan of Hollywood movies – her favorite actor and actress are Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet, while a couple of her favorite films include “The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, “Yes Man” and “Bruce Almighty”.

Age, height and net worth

Lucy’s age is 51. She has long blonde hair and brown eyes, her height is 5ft 5ins (1.65m) and she weighs around 120lbs (55kgs).

As of April 2022, her net worth is estimated at more than $1 million, while her father Stephen’s net worth has been estimated at over $20 million at the time of his death in 2018.

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General Info

Full NameLucy Hawking
ProfessionJournalist, Novelist
EducationUniversity of Oxford
NationalityEnglish

Family

SpouseAlex Mackenzie Smith
ChildrenWilliam Smith
ParentsStephen Hawking, Jane Hawking
SiblingsRobert Hawking, Timothy Hawking

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Source: IMDb, Wikipedia
Author

As a Freelance Writer at Biography Pedia, I oversee the full writing process, from in-depth research to the development of compelling narratives, ensuring accuracy and excellence in our output. Our goal is to produce insightful profiles that deeply explore the lives of prominent figures in business, entertainment, and other fields. Through meticulous research and engaging storytelling, we spotlight the significant journeys and achievements of individuals who captivate and inspire our readers.

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