Ernő Rubik, creator of the world’s most bedevilling puzzle, turns 80 today. Happy Birthday Mr. Rubik’s Cube.

“Schools offered me the opportunity to acquire knowledge of subjects or rather crafts that need a lot of practice, persistence, and diligence with the direction of a mentor.”

Rubik is a Hungarian architect, interior designer, and toy designer. 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of Ernő Rubik’s patent application for the Cube. It was originally called the Magic Cube. The Cube broke out into the world in the 80s, creating a cottage industry around solving the puzzle and speedcubing. The fastest solve on record is 3.13 seconds, by American Max Park in 2023.

To celebrate the Rubik’s Cube anniversary, Magyar Posta released a numbered souvenir stamp in January 2025.. They let loose designer Attila André Elekes to create a stamp set as iconic as the Cube itself. Elekes has designed over 300 stamps, starting with his first in 1990, as well as bank notes. He won The Most Beautiful Stamp of the Year (1992) and the Bronze Award of the Universal Postal Union (2014). He also serves as the artistic director for Hungary’s National Stamp Museum. This set may be one of his best to date. 

1,000 Cube stamp sets, that can be made into a Rubik’s Cube, were released in 2025 and each containing a souvenir sheet numbered from 1 to 1,000.

The stamp design of the numbered souvenir sheet issued by Magyar Posta shows a scrambled Rubik’s Cube®, while the squares and rectangles forming the frame are in the colours of the Cube. The special first day cover features an image of the so-called Retro Rubik’s Cube®. The Hungarian version of the official logo for the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Rubik’s Cube® (50 Years of the Rubik’s Cube®) appears on the souvenir sheet, the first day cover and the imprint of the postmark on the cover.

The souvenir sheet is also available in an exclusive stamp set. In the standard edition of the set, the Rubik’s Cube® stamp set can be assembled after purchase, while the cube shaped edition comes already assembled. The Cube and the accompanying holder can also be used as a decorative object. The standard edition of the set, sold in a resealable case, was produced in 2,000 copies, while the plastic box edition was produced in 1,000 copies. 
02_2025_EN_Rubiks50.pdf

Numbered single souvenir sheets (not from the set) were also released. They start with 1,001 and go to 3,000. The rest of the stamps are not numbered.

As a young boy, Rubik liked to draw and sculpt. Years later, he studied architecture and became obsessed with geometric designs. He eventually became a professor and taught a class called “descriptive geometry” – where he encouraged students to use two-dimensional images to solve three dimensional problems.

When Erno Rubik was 29, he was in his bedroom tinkering. He has described his bedroom as looking like the “inside of a child’s pocket.” It was littered with crayons, strings, sticks, various odds and ends – and lots of cubes.The inventor of the Rubik’s Cube took this long to first solve it | CBC Radio

Ernő Rubik graduated from Budapest University of Technology and Economics in architecture and later Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design for Interior Architecture and Design. He later became part of the faculty of both universities. By 1983, Rubik opened his own studio, Rubik Stúdió, to focus on both furniture and game design, while remaining a tenured professor and president of the Hungarian Engineering Academy. He used his influence and connections to create the International Rubik Foundation to help young engineers and industrial designers.  

Awards Ernő Rubik won include: 

• 1978 – Budapest International Trade Fair, Prize for the Cube[5]
• 1980 – Toy of the Year: Federal Republic of Germany, United Kingdom, France, USA 
• 1981 – Toy of the Year: Finland, Sweden, Italy 
• 1982 – Toy of the Year: United Kingdom (second time) 
• 1982 – The Museum of Modern Art, New York selected Rubik’s Cube into its permanent collection[5]
• 1983 – Hungarian State Prize for demonstrating and teaching 3D structures and for the various solutions that inspired scientific researches in several ways[5]
• 1988 – Juvenile Prize from the State Office of Youth and Sport[ 
• 1995 – Dénes Gabor Prize from the Novofer Foundation as an acknowledgement of achievements in the field of innovation 
• 1996 – Ányos Jedlik Prize from the Hungarian Patent Office[ 
• 1997 – Prize for the Reputation of Hungary (1997) 
• 2007 – Kossuth Prize the most prestigious cultural award in Hungary 
• 2008 – Moholy-Nagy Prize – from the Moholy-Nagy University of Arts and Design[ 
• 2009 – EU Ambassador of the Year of Creativity and Innovation[ 
• 2010 – USA Science and Engineering Festival Award (Outstanding Contribution to Science Education)
• 2014 – Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen (The highest Hungarian state honour) 
• 2014 – Honorary Citizen of Budapest

 

2024’s stamp took us to Mongolia for Mongolia’s Naadam Day.