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June 28th, 2024

Klára Dán Von Neumann

Klára Dán von Neumann, a pioneering Hungarian-American mathematician and computer scientist, made significant contributions to programming, including work on the Monte Carlo method, ENIAC, and MANIAC I. Despite personal challenges, her legacy endures.

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Klára Dán Von Neumann

Klára Dán von Neumann, a Hungarian-American mathematician, engineer, and computer scientist, was a pioneer in programming and one of the first computer programmers. She made significant contributions to programming, including work on the Monte Carlo method, ENIAC, and MANIAC I. Klára's career involved programming the MANIAC I machine and working on the ENIAC for meteorological forecasting. She played a crucial role in translating mathematical instructions into computer language and training others in programming. Despite facing societal devaluation of programming work, she excelled in her field. Klára's personal life was marked by multiple marriages, including to John von Neumann, and she faced challenges such as her father's suicide and a late-term miscarriage. After her husband's death, she wrote a preface to his lectures and an unpublished memoir. Klára tragically passed away in 1963, with her death listed as a suicide. Her legacy lives on through her step-daughter, Marina von Neumann Whitman, a prominent economist. Klára Dán von Neumann's contributions to computer science and programming continue to be recognized and celebrated.

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Link Icon 10 comments
By @rjmill - 4 months
> They were at a casino in Monte Carlo when Dán met her future husband, John von Neumann, for the first time. He explained that he had perfected a way to ensure that you could win roulette every time, and promptly lost all his money trying to prove his point.

Magnificent. I can't explain why I'm so delighted by this, but the mental image makes me happy.

By @surfingdino - 4 months
> Her family was wealthy, and often held parties where Dán would meet many different people from various stations in life.

Family wealth is often ignored in various scientists' biographies. It makes it easier to do science without the pressures of having to think about where the next cheque is going to come from.

By @mjreacher - 4 months
I've seen her unpublished memoir, A Grasshopper in Very Tall Grass, quoted in quite a few places and it definitely seems worth publishing, such a shame no publisher has taken any interest in it yet.
By @mark_l_watson - 4 months
My Dad knew John von Neumann at the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton. My Dad liked him, saying von Neumann worked really late, played loud German music, and was eccentric. I wonder is Klara was as eccentric?
By @josefrichter - 4 months
“For decades after this, society would devalue the work of programming, which ultimately allowed women to be a large part of the workforce.” – fascinating
By @paulpauper - 4 months
interesting death. walked into the ocean?
By @29athrowaway - 4 months
Much is said about John von Neumann but I had not yet heard about Klara. Thanks for sharing this.

The technical report on the ENIAC is an awesome read.

By @dnlserrano - 4 months
good book with some related anecdotes: The MANIAC
By @2-3-7-43-1807 - 4 months
> She died in 1963 when she drove from her home in La Jolla to the beach and walked into the surf and drowned. The San Diego coroner's office listed her death as a suicide.

now that's impressive.