Why Einstein's wife regretted meeting him all her life: The theory of relativity of feelings

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

In his student years, Albert Einstein had such fervent feelings for his classmate Mileva Marich that he even decided to marry her against the will of his parents. But family life was not at all what they both imagined. The great scientist did not know how to make his loved ones happy, and Mileva Marich managed to repeatedly regret the day when she drew attention to her classmate at the Zurich Polytechnic.

Strange couple

Mileva Maric has shown aptitude for science since childhood. Her father, Milos Maric, even procured a special permit for his daughter in 1891, according to which the girl received the right to enter the Royal Gymnasium in Zagreb, in which only boys studied until that time.

Mileva Marich finished her studies at the Zurich Women's Gymnasium, for which she moved to Switzerland. After graduation, she entered the University of Zurich, where she studied psychiatry. However, after a semester, the girl realized that medical practice did not attract her at all and moved to the Zurich Polytechnic (today - the Swiss Higher Technical School of Zurich). She was the only female student in the physics and mathematics department and showed great promise.

She was very humble and enthusiastic, she made her own clothes and cooked. She was so sweet and kind that no one noticed Mileva's slight limp. Why she drew attention to the young (he was 4 years younger) Albert Einstein, we can only guess.

Already at that time, the young genius did not suffer from shyness and complexes and knew his own worth. He did not doubt his own genius at all and sincerely believed in his great future. In the fall of 1897, Mileva decided to study physics and mathematics at the University of Heidelberg, and upon returning to Zurich she actively studied to catch up. It was at that time that the girl increasingly began to study material in the society of Albert Einstein.

Intellectual collaboration gradually developed into a passionate romance. He did not have the best influence on Mileva. She could no longer pass the final exams in 1900, although before that she had always passed the intermediate exams successfully. For example, they passed the physics exam with the same score: 5, 5 out of 6 possible.

Love in spite of

At that time, Albert Einstein wrote touchingly tender letters to his beloved, called her diminutive names and even informed his parents about his intention to marry Mileva. Einstein's mother opposed their marriage and, without hesitation in expressions, expressed her attitude towards the ugly limp from Serbia.

Mileva Maric in 1901 already wore their child under her heart. In the third month, she again failed in her final exams and effectively put an end to her career. Unfortunately, the first child did not bring her joy either. The daughter Lieserl, who was born, did not live long and died from complications of scarlet fever. At the same time, according to unverified data, Einstein's daughter was brought up in a foster family.

In 1903, Albert Einstein married Mileva Mari against the wishes of his parents. A year later, the son of Hans was born, and six years later, Edward was born.

All this time, the couple were happy. Albert Einstein worked hard to feed his family, Mileva led the house, raised children, and created comfortable working conditions. There is an opinion that it was Mileva Marich who was the real author of the theory of relativity, as well as the first scientific works of Einstein, but there is no confirmed data on this matter. The only indisputable fact is the help of the physicist's wife in scientific research, as well as their possible funding.

Disappointment

Family problems began at a time when Einstein began to actively correspond with his cousin Elsa Leventhal. After the family moved to Berlin, the relationship between the spouses not only deteriorated noticeably, but grew into an obvious confrontation.

Albert Einstein demanded that Maria Marich strictly adhere to the rules of family life established by him. The conditions were extremely harsh. The physicist's wife was supposed to keep track of the spouse's wardrobe and keep it in perfect order, as well as the bed linen used by him personally. In the duties of Mileva, Marich was charged with monitoring the nutrition of her husband, it was she who controlled the delivery of food three times a day to her husband's room.

At the same time, Einstein deprived his wife of the right to any personal relationship with him, without refusing, however, from infrequent appearances together in the world in order to maintain a kind of semblance of normal family relations. The physicist also demanded that his wife should not expect any affection from him and be instantly removed from his field of vision if he asked for it.

Naturally, Mileva Maric could not hold out for a long time in such an environment. In 1914, she left for Zurich with her sons. The spouses filed for divorce only five years later.

It is worth noting the fact that only Einstein's letters to Marich survived, but her letters to him disappeared. In one of the letters to his wife, he mentions that his wife threatened him and completely deprived him of all the joys of life, including the opportunity to communicate with his sons. In the same letter, he writes with bitterness that he will not be surprised by any of her actions.

A sad ending

After moving to Zurich, Mileva lived very modestly with her children. The money that the ex-husband sent was desperately lacking, the woman had to give private lessons in order to somehow feed herself and her sons. Einstein, in response to his wife's requests for help, reported that he himself was in great need, so he could not increase the content.

During the formalization of the divorce, the former spouses entered into an agreement according to which the sons Hans and Edward were to receive money from their father's expected Nobel Prize. Albert Einstein, when he became a laureate in 1921, actually donated the funds received to his first family.

It was with this money that three houses were purchased in Zurich. Mileva lived in one with her sons, the other two surrendered. However, in the late 1930s, the youngest son of the couple, Einstein, was admitted to a psychiatric clinic at the University of Zurich with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Two houses were sold to treat Edward.

In 1948, after another attack of her son, Mileva Marich herself ended up in a psychiatric clinic. She heard the bell ringing all the time and repeated the word "no". She died in August 1948. It is unlikely that anyone will now be able to know for certain why the ardently in love Albert Einstein, after just ten years of living together with Mileva Marich, turned into a tough and cold person who did not expect anything good from his wife.

Despite the fact that now Albert Einstein is famous primarily as a theoretical physicist, during his life the scientist also devoted a lot of time to humanistic movements and politics, so at some point he even offered to become the president of Israel.