Ada Lovelace Biography

Quick Facts

NAME: Ada Lovelace
OCCUPATION: Mathematician, Computer Programmer
BIRTH DATE: December 10, 1815
DEATH DATE: November 27, 1852
PLACE OF BIRTH: London, United Kingdom
PLACE OF DEATH: London, United Kingdom
Maiden Name: Augusta Ada Byron
AKA: Ada Lovelace
Nickname: Enchantress of Numbers
Full Name: Augusta Ada King
AKA: Countess of Lovelace

Best Known For

A gifted mathematician, Ada Lovelace is considered to have written instructions for the first computer program in the mid-1800s.

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Augusta Ada Byron King

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Ada also offered up other forward-thinking concepts in the article. For her work, Ada is often considered to be the first computer programmer.

Ada's article attracted little attention when she was alive. In her later years, she tried to develop mathematical schemes for winning at gambling. Unfortunately, her schemes failed and put her in financial peril. Ada died from uterine cancer in London on November 27, 1852. She was buried next to her father,

in the graveyard of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Nottingham, England.

Personal Life

In 1835, Ada married William King, who became the Earl of Lovelace three years later. She then took the title of Countess of Lovelace. They shared a love of horses and had three children together. From most accounts, he supported his wife's academic endeavors. Ada and her husband socialized with many of the interesting minds of the times, including scientist Michael Faraday and writer Charles Dickens.

Ada's health suffered, however, after a bout of cholera in 1837. She had lingering problems with asthma and her digestive system. Doctors gave her painkillers, such as laudanum and opium, and her personality began to change. She reportedly experienced mood swings and hallucinations.

Legacy

Ada Lovelace's contributions to the field of computer science were not discovered until the 1950s. Her notes were reintroduced to the world by B.Y. Bowden, who republished them in Faster Than Thought: A Symposium on Digital Computing Machines in 1953. Since then, Ada has received many posthumous honors for her work. In 1980, the U.S. Department of Defense named a newly developed computer language "Ada," after Lovelace.