Physicist’s remains to be interred in thanksgiving service near memorials to other famous scientists

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Stephen Hawking’s ashes will be interred at Westminster Abbey

near the grave of Sir Isaac Newton during a thanksgiving service later this

year, a spokesman for the abbey has said.



The dean of Westminster, the Very Rev Dr John Hall, said: “It is entirely fitting that the remains of Prof Stephen Hawking are to be buried in the abbey, near those of distinguished fellow scientists. Sir Isaac Newton was buried in the abbey in 1727. Charles Darwin was buried beside Isaac Newton in 1882.

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“Other famous scientists are buried or memorialised nearby, the most recent burials being those of atomic physicists Ernest Rutherford in 1937 and Joseph John Thomson in 1940.

“We believe it to be vital that science and religion work together to seek to answer the great questions of the mystery of life and of the universe.”

Following his death, Cambridge University described Hawking as “an inspiration to millions”.

Hawking was eventually given the prestigious title of Lucasian professor of mathematics at Cambridge – a position once held by Newton – having arrived in 1962 as a PhD student.

Hawking’s children, Lucy, Robert and Tim, said of their father: “He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years. His courage and persistence with his brilliance and humour inspired people across the world.”

A date for the service of thanksgiving has yet to be announced.