Dr. Hawking's Personal Effects Transferred to UK National Property... 6.6 Billion KRW Inheritance Tax Settled

Tim Hawking (left), son of the late British world-renowned physicist Dr. Stephen Hawking who passed away in 2018, and his daughter Lucy Hawking are taking a commemorative photo in front of the wheelchair Dr. Hawking used during his lifetime. Dr. Hawking's children donated personal belongings such as the wheelchair, letters, and research papers their father used while alive to the University of Cambridge Library and the Science Museum in London, and were exempted from inheritance tax. London, UK ? Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Byunghee Park] The personal belongings of the world-renowned British physicist Dr. Stephen Hawking, who passed away in 2018, including the wheelchair he used during his lifetime, research papers, and letters, have been bequeathed to his homeland, the United Kingdom.

According to major foreign media on the 26th (local time), Dr. Hawking's children have donated their father's belongings to the state and will be exempt from inheritance tax. The items bequeathed to his homeland include the wheelchair he used, laboratory equipment and household items from the University of Cambridge, about 10,000 pages of papers related to black hole theory, and the video script from the animated series "The Simpsons" in which he appeared.

The wheelchair and other items he used in his laboratory will be donated to the London Science Museum, while various records such as the manuscript of his world-renowned bestseller "A Brief History of Time," his doctoral thesis, correspondence with fellow scholars, personal notes, and research papers will be donated to the University of Cambridge Library. Foreign media reported that the inheritance tax issue, totaling ?4.2 million, will be resolved with ?1.4 million (approximately 2.2 billion KRW) worth of items donated to the Science Museum and ?2.8 million worth of records donated to the University of Cambridge Library.

The London Science Museum plans to exhibit some of the belongings to the general public early next year. The University of Cambridge announced that Dr. Hawking's belongings will be preserved alongside the papers of Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin, who were also alumni of the university, and will soon be displayed for everyone to see.

Dr. Hawking's laboratory is also scheduled to be newly established as part of the Science Museum next year.

Dr. Hawking was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, at the age of 21. The doctor who diagnosed him at the time said he had only two years to live, but Dr. Hawking lived for another 55 years, contributing to cosmology and quantum gravity research related to black holes.

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