George Svéd

George Svéd (born György Schossburger; 30 May 1910 – 1 November 1994), was a Hungarian engineer and academic who settled in Australia in 1939 and had a long academic career at the University of Adelaide. He was the husband of mathematician Márta Svéd.

Early life and education György Schossburger was born in Budapest, Hungary, on 30 May 1910, the eldest of three children of Imre Schossberger, stockbroker, and his wife Elsa (née Grünhut), who were Jewish.

He matriculated from Bolyai High School in 1928, in the same year winning the Eötvös national mathematics competition. He did a four-year course at the Royal Joseph University (in 1949 renamed Technical University of Budapest) which earned him a diploma in mechanical engineering with the highest honours.

In July 1935 he married mathematician and teacher Márta Wachsberger, who was also Jewish, and the couple made plans to leave Hungary as soon as Austria was incorporated into the German Reich in March 1938. In 1958 he was promoted to reader in civil engineering, and later served as head of department (1967–68, 1972–74) and dean of the faculty (1969–70). He retired in 1975.

Personal life, death, and legacy Márta and George Svéd had a son and a daughter.

In May 1945 he renounced his Hungarian nationality and became an Australian citizen. At that time, the couple lived on Portrush Road at Toorak Gardens.

Svéd died on 1 November 1994 in the Adelaide suburb of Glen Osmond. His ashes were interred in Centennial Park Cemetery. The prize is in cash.

The George Sved Stress Analysis Teaching Laboratory was named in his honour in 1998, at a ceremony attended by Márta.