Mileva Marić Einstein: Life with Albert Einstein

This is the first in-depth study of Mileva Marić Einstein and her complex life-long relationship with her husband Albert Einstein. Mileva Marić was the only woman to enter the Section of Mathematics and Physics of the elite Polytechnic in Zurich in 1896. She was a person of extraordinary intelligence and talent. However, when Marić met Albert Einstein that year, her fate became bound to his life and ambition. Raised in a patriarchal Serbian family, she was willing to sacrifice her own academic career and even her visibility to the dream of achieving something even greater, together. Einstein wrote about her as an “equal” referring to “our theory,” “our paper,” ”our work on relative motion.” He also relied heavily on Mileva for emotional support at a critical time in his life. Einstein married Mileva in defiance of very strong opposition from his parents. She wasn't beautiful, she was older, she walked with a limp and she wasn't Jewish. Yet, Einstein was magnetically drawn to her independence, strength and formidable intellect during the most creative period of his entire life. As Einstein’s reputation and adulation surged so did his womanizing. Einstein’s conduct in ending their marriage was so brutal that it dismayed even their closest friends and came perilously close to destroying Mileva. Although Einstein resisted, the divorce decree awarded future Nobel Prize money to Mileva as her property. It represented a symbolic measure of recognition for her contributions to Einstein’s scientific achievements. Despite their bitter divorce, Einstein sought the comfort of her company. While sometimes touchingly considerate, Einstein was vindictive and brutal when challenged or hurt. A true understanding of Einstein as both a man and a genius, is impossible without a detailed study of the woman who loved Einstein so deeply with an emotional and intellectual bond that bore a very rare fruit. It changed our view of the universe.

History has not been kind to Mileva Marić Einstein, the first wife of Albert Einstein. Numerous biographies that have dealt with Einstein have contributed little to a deeper understanding of Mileva Marić and her role in Albert Einstein’s life. This is the first in-depth study of Mileva Marić Einstein and her complex life-long relationship with Einstein. It attempts to explain why she failed to realize her potential in her own right. It offers new insights into Einstein’s private life and character, and brings to light Mileva’s role in Einstein’s personal and scientific development. This book is based on the correspondence between Mileva Marić and Albert Einstein. While Mileva Marić preserved most of Einstein’s letters to her, most of her letters to him have been lost or destroyed, along with evidence of her contributions to Einstein’s scientific achievements. Those letters that have survived resonate with a compelling voice. Consequently, the author has chosen to let Mileva Marić and Albert Einstein tell the story of their lives together in their own words as much as possible. It reveals a detailed dramatic picture of Einstein and Mileva, until now unknown to the world. Mileva Marić was the only woman to enter the Section of Mathematics and Physics at the elite Polytechnic in Zurich in 1896. She was a person of extraordinary intelligence and talent. However, when Mileva met Albert Einstein that year, her fate became bound to his life and ambition. Raised in a patriarchal Serbian family, she was willing to sacrifice her own academic career and even her visibility to the dream of achieving something greater, together. Mileva’s decision to put her exceptional talents in the service of Einstein’s career led to her invaluable contributions to his scientific achievements. Einstein wrote about her as an “equal” referring to “our new studies,” “our investigations,” “our views,” “our theory,” “our paper,” ”our work on relative motion.” He also relied heavily on Mileva for emotional support at a critical time in his life. “Without you I lack self-confidence, pleasure in work . . . without you my life is no life.” Before their marriage, she bore Einstein a daughter, whom she gave up for adoption to protect Einstein’s career, an act that cast a heavy shadow over the remainder of her life. Einstein married Mileva in defiance of strong opposition from his parents. She wasn't beautiful, she was older, she walked with a limp and she wasn't Jewish. “You are ruining your future and blocking your path through life . . . That woman cannot gain entrance to a decent family,” his mother wrote to him. Yet, Einstein was magnetically drawn to her independence, strength and formidable intellect during the most creative period of his entire life. As Einstein’s reputation and adulation surged so did his womanizing. Einstein’s conduct in ending their marriage was so brutal that it dismayed even their closest friends and came perilously close to destroying Mileva. Although Einstein resisted, the divorce decree awarded all future Nobel Prize money to Mileva as her property. This was poetic justice, for it represented a symbolic measure of recognition for her contributions to Einstein’s scientific achievements. Despite their bitter divorce, they shared concern for their two sons, and maintained a steady, if often troubled, relationship until Mileva’s death. Einstein sought the comfort of her company, stayed at her Zurich apartment numerous times, and tried to provide help in his own way when she needed it. While sometimes touchingly considerate, Einstein was vindictive and brutal when challenged or hurt. A true understanding of Einstein as both a man and a genius, is impossible without a detailed study of the woman who loved Einstein so deeply with an emotional and intellectual bond that bore a very rare fruit. It changed our view of the universe.

Radmila Milentijević was born and raised in Serbia. She was educated at the University of Belgrade, the University of Chicago, where she received her M.A. in history in 1961, and Columbia University, from which she obtained her Ph.D. in 1970. In 1966 she joined the faculty of the History Department at the City College of the City University of New York (CUNY), where in 1984 she attained the rank of Full Professor. She taught courses in Modern European History, directed the Graduate Studies Program in History and served as Chairperson of the History Department. She was a Special Assistant for Labor Relations to the Chancellor of Schools of the New York City Board of Education and served as Associate Dean of the University, and Deputy to the Chancellor for University Relations. She is currently Professor Emeritus at the City University of New York. Professor Milentijević is a prolific author and her numerous publications include: "Serbian Social Democracy and the Nationality Question," Canadian Review of Studies in Nationalism, 1972; "Anti-Semitism and the Treatment of the Holocaust in Post-Communist Yugoslavia" in the book "Anti-Semitism and the Treatment of the Holocaust in Post-Communist Eastern Europe", edited by Randolph L. Braham (New York: The Rosenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies, The City University of New York, 1994, distributed by Columbia University Press); "The United States Policy Toward Yugoslavia" in the book "The Yugoslav State, 1918-1998" (Belgrade: Institute for Modern History, 1999); "The Cathedral Church in Belgrade" (Belgrade: Sabornik, 2009). She served on the Editorial Board of the Canadian Review of Studies in Nationalism (1980-2005). During the 1990s, Professor Milenijević became involved in the affairs of former Yugoslavia. She served as a cabinet minister in the government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from July to November 1992, and as Minister of Information of the Republic of Serbia from February 1997 until March 1998. She lectured widely on the Yugoslav crisis at university campuses across the United States ranging from the American University to Cornell and Yale, including civic institutions as the City Club of Cleveland, the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, and Coleman/Bartlett Washington Focus. She held press conferences at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. and the United Nations in New York City, and gave interviews to numerous leading newspapers, including the Washington Post, Washington Times, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor. She appeared on numerous American television and radio programs and on international television networks such as CNN, Fox News, CNBC, MSNBC, and BBC, and national television networks of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada and France. Over the past two decades, Professor Milentijević has dedicated herself to humanitarian work. She founded The World Serbian Voluntary Fund, Inc., a not-for-profit organization for humanitarian relief in Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the Krajina. As President of the Fund, she focused on providing medicine and medical supplies to hospitals in the Krajina, Republika Srpska and Serbia. She donated more than one million dollars of her personal assets for philanthropic purposes to institutions ranging from the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences to the National Museum in Belgrade, to schools, and to churches and monasteries in Serbia, United States, France and Romania. Professor Milentijević is the biggest donor of the Cathedral Church in Belgrade and the Benefactor of the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral Church of St. Sava in New York City. Professor Milentijevic is the recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor 2011; she is the honorary member of the Association of Serbian Writers; honorary citizen of the city of Reşiţa, Rumania; honorary citizen of the Municipality of Smederevska Palanka, Serbia. She lives in New York City and has a residence in Belgrade, Serbia.