Ernő Rubik (; born 13 July 1944) is a Hungarian architect and inventor, widely known for creating the Rubik's Cube (1974), Rubik's Magic, and Rubik's Snake.

While Rubik became famous for inventing the Rubik's Cube and his other puzzles, much of his recent work involves the promotion of science in education. Rubik is involved with several organizations such as Beyond Rubik's Cube, the Rubik Learning Initiative and the Judit Polgar Foundation, all of which aim to engage students in science, mathematics, and problem solving at a young age.

Rubik studied sculpture at the Academy of Applied Arts and Design in Budapest and architecture at the Technical University, likewise located in Budapest. While a professor of design at the academy, he pursued his hobby of building geometric models. One of these was a prototype of his cube, made of 27 wooden blocks; it took Rubik a month to solve the problem of the cube. It proved a useful tool for teaching algebraic group theory, and in late 1977 Konsumex, Hungary's state trading company, began marketing it. By 1980, Rubik's Cube was marketed throughout the world, and over 100 million authorized units, with an estimated 50 million unauthorized imitations, were sold, mostly during its subsequent three years of popularity. Approximately 50 books were published describing how to solve the puzzle of Rubik's Cube. Following his cube's popularity, Rubik opened a studio to develop designs in 1984; among its products was another popular puzzle toy, Rubik's Magic.

Early life and education

Ernő Rubik was born in Budapest, Hungary, on 13 July 1944, during World War II, and has lived all of his life in Hungary. His father, who was also named Ernő Rubik, was a flight engineer at the Esztergom aircraft factory, and his mother, Magdolna Szántó, was a poet. He has stated in almost every interview that he got his inspiration from his father.

His father, Ernő, was a highly respected engineer of gliders. His extensive work and expertise in this area gained him an international reputation as an expert in his field. Ernő Rubik has stated that:

thumb|Rubik's Cube

Starting with blocks of wood and rubber bands, Rubik set out to create a structure that would allow the individual pieces to move without the whole structure falling apart. Rubik originally used wood for the block because of the convenience of a workshop at the university and because he viewed wood as a simple material to work with that did not require sophisticated machinery. Rubik made the original prototypes of his cube by hand, cutting the wood, boring the holes and using elastic bands to hold the contraption together.

Rubik licensed the Magic Cube to Ideal Toys, a U.S. company, in 1979. Ideal rebranded The Magic Cube to the Rubik's Cube before it was introduced to an international audience in 1980. The process from early prototype to mass production of the Cube had taken over six years.

Other inventions

In addition to Rubik's Cube, Rubik is also the inventor of Rubik's Magic, Rubik's Snake and Rubik's 360 along with several others.

Later career and other works

In the early 1980s, he became the editor of a game and puzzle journal called ..És játék (...And games), then became self-employed in 1983, founding the Rubik Stúdió, where he designed furniture and games. In 1987, he became a professor with full tenure; in 1990, he became the president of the Hungarian Engineering Academy (Magyar Mérnöki Akadémia). At the academy, he created the International Rubik Foundation to support especially talented young engineers and industrial designers.

He attended the 2007 World Speedcubing Championship in Budapest. He also gave a lecture and autograph session at the "Bridges-Pecs" conference ("Bridges between Mathematics and the Arts") in July 2010.

In 2009, he was appointed as an honorary professor of Keimyung University in Daegu, South Korea.

In the 2010s, Rubik has recently spent much of his time working on Beyond Rubik's Cube, a Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM fields) based exhibition, which would travel the globe over the next six years. The grand opening of the exhibit was held on 26 April 2014 at the Liberty Science Center in New Jersey. At the exhibition, Rubik gave several lectures, tours, and engaged with the public and several members of the speedcubing crowd in attendance, including Anthony Michael Brooks, a world-class speedcuber.

Rubik is a member of the USA Science and Engineering Festival's advisory board.

In December 2024, Rubik was interviewed by the educational math channel Numberphile.

Influences

Ernő Rubik has listed several individuals who, as he has said, "exerted a great influence over me through their work." These include Leonardo da Vinci, whom Rubik regards as the Renaissance man; Michelangelo, whom he respects as a polymath, painter, and sculptor; and artist M. C. Escher, who drew impossible constructions and grappled with explorations of infinity. As regards philosophers and writers, Rubik admires Voltaire, Stendhal, Thomas Mann, Jean-Paul Sartre, Hungarian poet Attila József, Jules Verne, and Isaac Asimov. In the field of architecture, Rubik is an admirer of Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier.

  • 1980 – Toy of the Year: Federal Republic of Germany, United Kingdom, France, USA
  • 2010 – USA Science and Engineering Festival Award (Outstanding Contribution to Science Education)

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  • 2010 – The Hungarian Order of Merit Commanders Cross with the Star
  • 2010 – Prima Primissima Prize
  • 2012 – My Country Awards -->
  • 2014 – Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen (The highest Hungarian state honour)
  • 2014 – Honorary Citizen of Budapest

Publications

  • Co-author of The Rubik's Cube Compendium (written by David Singmaster, Ernő Rubik, Gerzson Kéri, György Marx, Tamás Varga and Tamás Vekerdy), Oxford University Press, 1987.
  • Author of Cubed – The Puzzle of Us All, Flatiron Books/Orion Publishing Group /Hachette UK/Libri, 2020.

References

  • An interview with Ernő Rubik
  • His biography at Hungary.hu
  • His first print interview in ten years (archived 1 February 2009)
  • An exclusive video interview about the new Rubik's 360