Georg von Békésy (3.06.1899-13.06.1972) was a Hungarian physicist and biophysicist. He was born in Budapest. He graduated from the University of Budapest (1923). In 1923-46 he worked at the Hungarian Telephone System Laboratory, and also in 1932-46 at the University of Budapest (professor from 1939), in 1946-49 at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and in 1949-66 at Harvard University; in 1966-72 he was professor at the university in Honolulu.
His work concerned acoustics and the theory of hearing. He constructed dynamic models of the inner ear and discovered a number of new factors connected with the vibrations of the membrane; in particular, he observed microscopic vibrations of the membrane and measured many mechanical parameters of its moving parts. He invented a number of instruments for the study of the organs of hearing.
For his discoveries concerning the mechanism of hearing he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1961).