Mária Telkes Cause of Death: How did Mária Telkes Die?

Mária Telkes, a Hungarian-born American physical chemist and biophysicist died on December 2, 1995, at the age of 95 while visiting her hometown of Budapest, Hungary, for the first time in 70 years.

Her cause of death was never revealed. Maria Telkes spent a large portion of her life researching solar energy and designing numerous solar-powered ovens, stills, and generators.

She designed the first solar-heated home’s heating system and received numerous awards and honors, including the Society of Women Engineers Achievement Award in 1952 and the Charles Greely Abbot Award from the American Section of the International Solar Energy Society.

Mária Telkes was known as the “Sun Queen” for her contributions to solar energy research. She was one of the first to investigate practical ways for people to use solar energy.

The National Academy of Science Building Research Advisory Board honored Telkes in 1977 for her contributions to solar-heated building technology.

This put her in the company of other award winners, including Frank Lloyd Wright and Buckminster Fuller.

She was the first woman to receive the Society of Women Engineers Achievement Award in 1952. She was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2012.