Everybody loved Einstein...or did they?

I think that people sometimes get things wrong...very.

Although Einstein was a fairly intelligent man...the great scientist was also a flawed man, childlike and petulant in interpersonal relationships, blindly condescending to brilliant women, a failed father to his sons (one of whom was mentally ill), no father at all to his illegitimate daughter, and a fervent believer in the eugenic pseudoscience that underpinned Nazism.

Einstein, from the middle of his life until the end, made constant mistakes in his quest for a unified field theory uniting the giant world of relativity to the tiny realm of quantum mechanics. For a time, Einstein announced great breakthroughs almost annually, only to recant and retreat later. For all his revolutionary genius, he could not accept as final the probabilistic equations describing the quanta he discovered in 1905, insisting till the end that "God does not play dice."

There were dramas engendered by Einstein's great failures. These ran parallel: in science, in personal relationships, and in politics, where Einstein achieved his greatest notoriety. "After 1930, Einstein's opponents targeted his political views more than his physics--even in circles that were inclined to endorse his views," One author wrote. "He spoke on every topic under the sun. `Abortion up to a certain stage of the pregnancy should be allowed if the woman so desires. Homosexuality should not be subject to persecution except where necessary to protect young people. In regard to sexual education: no secrecy.'"

Einstein treated wives, lovers, and political causes in a way many Hollywood watchers would be familiar with today. But unlike today's icons, Einstein maintained a humbleness of spirit and a style to match. His great material loves, aside from his famous violin, were a small sailboat and a modest summer home in Caputh, Germany. "He had no need for a stately villa, like Thomas Mann, or for a banquet in the Adlon Hotel, like [writer Gerhardt] Hauptmann, or for stylish cars like Bertolt Brecht," Neffe explains. "He was satisfied with his fragrant little wooden house made of Oregon pine and Galician fir wood, in which he sometimes felt like Robinson Crusoe. [His wife] Elsa had wanted to build something larger, while he was almost ashamed at the grandeur of the house. `I think there is enough space here for all the scholars in the world whom I know and who have steered science onto new courses to gather together to talk and eat.' What more could he want?"

well...maybe Einstein saw the universe as we could not...but we live in the now...and so there are some clues to his humanity...such as his treatment of his wife.

After Einstein and Mileva married, they had two sons: Hans Albert and Eduard. Einstein’s academic successes and world travel, however, came at a price - he became estranged from his wife. For a while, the couple tried to work out their problems - Einstein even proposed a strange "contract" for living together with Mileva:

The relationship progressed. Einstein became estranged from his wife. The biography reprints a chilling letter from Einstein to his wife, a proposed "contract" in which they could continue to live together under certain conditions. Indeed that was the heading: "Conditions."

A. You will make sure
1. that my clothes and laundry are kept in good order;
2. that I will receive my three meals regularly in my room;
3. that my bedroom and study are kept neat, and especially that my desk is left for my use only.
B. You will renounce all personal relations with me insofar as they are not completely necessary for social reasons…

There’s more, including "you will stop talking to me if I request it." She accepted the conditions. He later wrote to her again to make sure she grasped that this was going to be all-business in the future, and that the "personal aspects must be reduced to a tiny remnant." And he vowed, "In return, I assure you of proper comportment on my part, such as I would exercise to any woman as a stranger." (Source)

And his son?

After the divorce, Einstein’s relationship with his oldest son, Hans Albert, turned rocky. Hans blamed his father for leaving Mileva, and after Einstein won the Nobel Prize and money, for giving Mileva access only to the interest rather than the principal sum of the award - thus making her life that much harder financially.

The row between the father and son was amplified when Einstein strongly objected to Hans Albert marrying Frieda Knecht:

In fact, Einstein opposed Hans’s bride in such a brutal way that it far surpassed the scene that Einstein’s own mother had made about Mileva. It was 1927, and Hans, at age 23, fell in love with an older and - to Einstein - unattractive woman. He damned the union, swearing that Hans’s bride was a scheming woman preying on his son. When all else failed, Einstein begged Hans to not have children, as it would only make the inevitable divorce harder. … (Source: Einstein A to Z by Karen C. Fox and Aries Keck, 2004)

Later, Hans Albert immigrated to the United States became a professor of Hydraulic Engineering at UC Berkeley. Even in the new country, the father and son were apart. There are some reports of this all over the web...but others state that he and Hans actually became closer and did travel with each other...in any event, Einstein really did love his son...and wrote to him constantly over the years. There letters to each other show...that he did indeed want communion with him.

Unfortunately the other son suffered so...with mental illness...that relationship would not be as well documented.

After Einstein divorced Mileva (his infidelity was listed as one of the reasons for the split), he soon married his cousin Elsa Lowenthal. Actually, Einstein also considered marrying Elsa’s daughter (from her first marriage) Ilse, but she demurred:

Before marrying Elsa, he had considered marrying her daughter, Ilse, instead. According to Overbye, “She (Ilse, who was 18 years younger than Einstein) was not attracted to Albert, she loved him as a father, and she had the good sense not to get involved. But it was Albert’s Woody Allen moment.” (Source)

Unlike Mileva, Elsa Einstein’s main concern was to take care of her famous husband. She undoubtedly knew about, and yet tolerated, Einstein’s infidelity and love affairs which were later revealed in his letters:

Previously released letters suggested his marriage in 1903 to his first wife Mileva Maric, mother of his two sons, was miserable. They divorced in 1919, and he soon married his cousin, Elsa. He cheated on her with his secretary, Betty Neumann.

Einstein described about six women with whom he spent time and from whom he received gifts while being married to Elsa.

Some of the women identified by Einstein include Estella, Ethel, Toni and his "Russian spy lover," Margarita. Others are referred to only by initials, like M. and L.

"It is true that M. followed me (to England) and her chasing after me is getting out of control," he wrote in a letter to Margot in 1931. "Out of all the dames, I am in fact attached only to Mrs. L., who is absolutely harmless and decent." (Source)
In the 1980s, Einstein’s private letters revealed something new about the genius: he had an illegitimate daughter with a fellow former student Mileva Marić (whom Einstein later married).

In 1902, a year before their marriage, Mileva gave birth to a daughter named Lieserl, whom Einstein never saw and whose fate remained unknown:

Mileva gave birth to a daughter at her parents’ home in Novi Sad. This was at the end of January, 1902 when Einstein was in Berne. It can be assumed from the content of the letters that birth was difficult. The girl was probably christianised. Her official first name is unknown. In the letters received only the name “Lieserl” can be found.

The further life of Lieserl is even today not totally clear. Michele Zackheim concludes in her book “Einstein’s daughter” that Lieserl was mentally challenged when she was born and lived with Mileva’s family. Furthermore she is convinced that Lieserl died as a result of an infection with scarlet fever in September 1903. From the letters mentioned above it can also be assumed that Lieserl was put up for adoption after her birth.

In a letter from Einstein to Mileva from September 19, 1903, Lieserl was mentioned for the last time. After that nobody knows anything about Lieserl Einstein-Maric. (Source)

This all is about the reality of peoples lives. Men of genius can and are complex...they require much in the way of relationships and are driven by quite different motivations...so how does one live with such a person?

Well...let's look at his first wife...

The Aftermath (1920-1955)
By the age of 45, Mileva had survived the loss of her daughter, her husband and her professional dreams. She had some cash from the divorce settlement, and earned a little more by taking in boarders and giving lessons in math and music. Life was tolerable.


But at the start of 1920, Mileva was called to Novi Sad. Her aging parents couldn't deal with Zorka's growing paranoia and hostility. Mileva stayed for three months. The autumn of 1922 found Mileva back in Serbia again: Zorka had incinerated a large sum of cash hidden in an empty stove. Events followed in rapid succession: Zorka suffered another psychotic break; Mileva's father, Milos, died of a stroke; Mileva had her sister legally certified as an incompetent - and Albert won the Nobel Prize.

Albert was on a lecture tour in the Far East when news of the Nobel Prize reached him. He couldn't attend the December ceremony. It was 1923 before a Swedish ambassador personally delivered the 1921 prize. Albert quietly routed the cash to Mileva. It was the smallest sum the Nobel Foundation had ever distributed, just 121,572 Swedish kronor (worth about $348,000 U.S. in 2003). Mileva invested in three properties, including an apartment house on Huttenstrasse, where she lived with her teenage sons.

The next year, Albert fell in love with a friend's niece. To keep her in Berlin, he hired her as a "secretary." Elsa permitted Albert to see his mistress twice a week, in exchange for keeping a low profile. Albert grew bored within a year. In April 1928, he hired a genuine secretary, Helen Dukas. She remained with Einstein until his death.

In 1929, Mileva was 53. Over the next 10 years, she would lose everything that mattered. First, Eduard was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Then Albert escaped the anti-Semitism of Nazi Berlin by emigrating to America with Elsa and his secretary. The following New Year's Day, Mileva's mother died. Three years later, Mileva went home for the last time, to bury Zorka. Then Hans Albert, his wife, and Mileva's two grandsons moved to the U.S., and within months her youngest grandchild was dead. By 1939, the world was in economic collapse, teetering on the brink of war.

Mileva asked Albert for help. She had sold two buildings, and faced foreclosure on the third. She couldn't pay for Eduard's care and maintain the Huttenstrasse apartments too. Albert took ownership of the property. After eight years, he abruptly sold it for 85,000 Swiss francs, on the condition that Mileva could stay. But on New Year's Eve, she received official notice that her lease was up. A friend attempted to get an extension and during the bureaucratic confusion, the buyer's 85,000 Swiss francs were accidentally paid to Mileva. Albert was livid. He threatened to cut Eduard out of his will if she didn't send the money to him instantly. But Mileva had a legal advantage: she held Albert's power of attorney in Switzerland, and she kept the money.

The following spring, Mileva collapsed during one of Eduard's violent episodes. She died in the hospital three months later and was buried in Zurich's Nordheim Cemetery. Her newspaper obituary didn't mention Albert. He was now a retired widower of 69. Johnny would outlive Dollie by seven years.

Not all things are understood in the universe and not all men are easy to deal with...some simply are good at work...and some are good at trying to have relationships. Some...simply leave others in their wake...never looking at what they left behind.

Does this negate his scientifc theories? No...but it does bring clarity...and one more thing...it makes him human...warts and all...and really that is all any of us are...completely flawed...just as God made us...remember. "God doesn't play dice."

Love,
The Lass



He was a flawed and complex man...who may have found people more complex than a little math equation E=MC2