Elsa Einstein is a cousin, an invaluable assistant and faithful companion of her famous and great husband - physicist Albert Einstein. From 1910 until the end of her days, she supported and inspired the scientist for new achievements.
Biography
Elsa Einstein was born on January 18, 1876 in the small German city of Hechingen. She came from a very wealthy family. Elsa's father Rudolf Einstein owned a fabric factory. Nothing is known about her mother’s activities Fanny Einstein (Koch).
In addition to the girl, the family had two more children. Ermina, Elsa's older sister, was born in 1874. And in 1878, the youngest child in the family, Paula, was born.
Hechingen: view of the old city Photo: Muesse / Wikimedia Commons
The Einsteins regularly visited Munich, where Elsa could play with her cousin Albert. They often spent time together until he and his family moved to Milan. For some time, the paths of the cousins parted.
Personal life and career
In 1896, Elsa first married a young man from Berlin. Her husband Rudolph Max Leventhal was engaged in the trade in fabrics. In this marriage, the couple had three children. The eldest children, the daughters of Ilse and Margo, survived, and the youngest son died in 1903 as an infant.
Elsa with her husband and children lived in Hechingen. However, in 1902, Rudolph returned to Berlin, taking a job there. Elsa and her children stayed in Hechingen. Separation may have affected family relationships. Indeed, on May 11, 1908, the couple divorced. Elsa and her daughters moved to Berlin, settling next to their parents.
A few years after parting with her husband, Elsa Einstein became an invaluable assistant to her brilliant cousin Albert Einstein. They have known each other since childhood and got along wonderfully. Especially close relations between the couple began around 1912. Despite the fact that Albert Einstein was married to Milev Marich at that time, he maintained a romantic correspondence with Elsa. And in 1914 he completely moved to Berlin, where his cousin lived.
Elsa Einstein with her husband
Photo: Underwood and Underwood / Wikimedia Commons
In 1917, Albert Einstein became seriously ill. Nursing a scientist, Elsa Einstein was constantly next to him. Many who personally knew this couple were delighted with the degree of devotion of this woman to their man. And two years later, on June 2, 1919, Albert and Elsa got married. In fact, Einstein became a father to the two daughters of Elsa. However, later it became known that he had no fatherly feelings for one of them.
Ilza, the eldest daughter of Elsa Einstein and Max Leventhal, provided secretary services to her famous relative. It was then that he was imbued with tender feelings for a young girl. In a collection of works by Albert Einstein sent to Princeton University after his death, a letter appeared describing Ilse's proposal. The girl, however, agreed only on kinship, treating the scientist as a father. Soon Albert and Elsa got married.
When recognition came to Albert Einstein, and with him popularity, he began to spend a lot of time traveling. The scientist was invited to give numerous lectures and participate in scientific discussions. Elsa always accompanied her husband. In 1921, they traveled together to the United States, where he helped raise funds for his small homeland in Palestine. In 1922, Albert Einstein received the Nobel Prize for the theory of the photoelectric effect and "… other works in the field of theoretical physics." And in this achievement of the scientist, the contribution of his wife was traced.
Elsa played a supporting role in his career, helping to manage the scientist's daily business affairs. And even when Helen Dukas was hired as secretary in 1928, Elsa Einstein continued to carefully preserve her husband’s peace. She, like a tireless defender, protected him from unwanted visitors and visitors.
