Portrait of Ilya Prigogine

Birthday profile

Ilya Prigogine

Russian-Belgian physical chemist (1917–2003)

Born
January 25, 1917
Died
May 28, 2003
Zodiac sign
Aquarius
Birth year
1917

About Ilya Prigogine

Viscount Ilya Romanovich Prigogine (; Russian: Илья Романович Пригожин; 25 January [O.S. 12 January] 1917 – 28 May 2003) was a Belgian physical chemist of Russian origin, noted for his work on dissipative structures, complex systems, and irreversibility. Prigogine's work most notably earned him the 1977 Nobel Prize in Chemistry “for his contributions to non-equilibrium thermodynamics, particularly the theory of dissipative structures”, as well as the Francqui Prize in 1955, and the Rumford Medal in 1976. In 1955, Prigogine was awarded the Francqui Prize for Exact Sciences. In 1951, he became a full professor at his alma mater; at 34 years old, he was the youngest ever full professor at the science faculty in Brussels. In Austin, in 1967, he co-founded the Center for Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics, now the Center for Complex Quantum Systems.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Ilya Prigogine timeline

  1. In 1951, he became a full professor at his alma mater; at 34 years old, he was the youngest ever full professor at the science faculty in Brussels.
  2. In 1955, Prigogine was awarded the Francqui Prize for Exact Sciences.
  3. In Austin, in 1967, he co-founded the Center for Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics, now the Center for Complex Quantum Systems.

The world when Ilya Prigogine was born

Ilya Prigogine was born in 1917. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1917

  • Best-selling book"Mr. Britling Sees It Through" – H.G. Wells

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentProfessional sports curtailed as America enters World War I
  • Top headlineUS enters World War I
  • Technology milestoneFirst practical military use of sonar
  • World population~1.77B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderWoodrow Wilson
  • U.S. population100.8M

1917 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Ilya Prigogine's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19172026
Gas$0.25$3.45/gal
Population100.8M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Library of Congress. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.