-
Imre Lakatos was born in the beautiful Debrecen, Hungary. His actual birth name was Imre Lipschitz. -
Graduated from the University of Debrecen with a degree in math, physics, and philosephy. It was during the height of WWII, Hitler gained control of Hungary and was prosecuting Jews. Because of Imre being jewish he changed his last name to Molnar, so he would not be prosectued. His mother and grandmother both died at Auschwitz. Source:
https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Lakatos/ -
After the war ended, Imre changed his last name again from Molnar to Lakatos. This kept his political views and now he could wear his clothes that had his original initials on, "I.L.". Source:
https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Lakatos/ -
Imre Lakatos was appointed a post in the Hungarian Ministry of Education. He was not good with taking orders from Russian authorities, so he was thrown in a Stalinist prison in 1950 for 3 years. Source:
https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Lakatos/ -
After he was released from prison, he began to find work. He was able to translate mathematic books into Hungarian. -
Lakatos graced the world with his first part of Proofs and Refutations in the British Journal for Philosophy of Science. Source:
https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Lakatos/ -
He created four parts for this book and in this year, it was complete. The world of philosophy would change for the best because of his works. Source:
https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Lakatos/ -
Imre Lakatos dies in London, England but his works live on. He continues to inspire future generations and has an award named after him at The London School of Economics and Political Science. Source:
https://www.lse.ac.uk/philosophy/lakatos-award/