A Printables contest entry,
While I don't know if Escher was the first to create the isometric hollow cube, but you see him credited a lot for it because of the optical illusions frequently represented in his artwork.
However he is famously know for the impossible cube as seen in “Man with Cube” which is where I think the miss-accreditation comes from. As a side note, I tried to model it, but it wasn't possible.
As a side note, this contest's opening artwork is a simplified version of another one of M.C. Escher's work titled “Reptiles" as seen below:
The author marked this model as their own original creation.