Godfrey Harold Hardy, 1877 - 1947

Godfrey Harold Hardy was born on 7 February 1877, at Cranleigh, Surrey. He was the only son of Isaac Hardy, Art Master, Bursar and House Master of the preparatory branch of Cranleigh School. His mother, Sophia Hardy, had been Senior Mistress at the Lincoln Training College. Both parents were extremely able people and mathematically minded, but want of funds had prevented them from having a university training. The future professor’s interest in numbers showed itself early. By the time he was two years old he had persuaded his parents to show him how to write down numbers up to millions. When he was taken to church he occupied the time in factorizing the numbers of the hymns, and all through his life he amused himself by playing about with the numbers of railway carriages, taxi-cabs and the like.