Who first solved Einstein's field equations for a point mass?

Karl Schwarzschild was the first to solve Einstein’s field equations for a point mass.

Schwarzschild found the first nontrivial exact solution of Einstein’s general-relativistic field equations in 1915, shortly after Einstein completed the theory. His result describes the exterior gravitational field of a spherically symmetric, non-rotating, uncharged mass. It was published in 1916 while Schwarzschild was serving on the Eastern Front during the First World War.

The solution is now called the Schwarzschild metric. It led to the concept of the Schwarzschild radius, the distance at which a sufficiently compact object would possess an event horizon. For a solar-mass object, that radius is about 3 kilometres, although the Sun itself is far too large and diffuse to be a black hole.

The wording can cause confusion because David Hilbert independently worked on related equations, and Johannes Droste later obtained the same spherical vacuum solution. However, Schwarzschild’s result came first and is the standard historical answer. Arthur Eddington later helped test and explain general relativity, while Hermann Minkowski’s major contribution concerned the geometry of special relativity.