Mina A.A.

“I was proud and lucky when we were together to finish our work on the ‘Theory of Relativity’.” – Albert Einstein, giving credit to his first wife Mileva Maric Einstein for their mutual work on the Theory of Relativity. (Doc. 94, March 27, 1901-Die Liebesbriefe-Love Letters- 1897-1903).
Whether or not the Theory of Relativity had only a father we will probably never know. However, some pieces of evidence stir the controversy, and raise the old question over and over again – Was there a mother too?
In 1905 several articles appeared in the German physics journal, “Annalen der Physik”. The most famous among them, probably was the one entitled ”On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies”, the breakthrough paper on the “principle of relativity”. The others were –“the theory of Brownian movement”, and “the theory of the photoelectric effect”. With those articles, the new era of modern physics has begun. All the articles were published under the name of Albert Einstein, but they were all submitted to the journal signed “Einstein-Marity” (Marity as a Hungarian spelling for Maric, Einstein wife’s maiden name. Her hometown was part of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy at the time, and all the official documents were either in German or in Hungarian.) The documentary film “Einstein’s Wife”, produced by Geraldine Hilton, showed that the original manuscript from 1905 of the Theory of Relativity was signed by “Einstein-Marity”. Professor Dr. Abraham Joffe, the alumnus of the Polytechnic Institute in Zurich where Mileva and Albert Einstein were students, claimed the same thing. Professor Dr. Daniel Semjonovich confirmed this statement, and many others.
Professor Joffe actually realized this, 50 years after he had seen the original papers. He didn’t even know there was the first wife, even less he knew that her name was “Marity”. The world heard about Mileva Einstein-Marity (Maric) only after the discovery of the new documents, mostly letters, in the 1990’s.
The opponents of this thesis claimed that according to Swiss law, husband could add his wife’s maiden name to his. So, for them, this was no evidence of Mileva’s contribution to Einstein’s work. Professor Joffe explained that – “Swiss law allowed either husband or wife, or both of them, to use double name, but this must have been declared before the marriage. It was Mileva who added her husband’s name. She signed her marriage documents by Mileva Einstein-Marity, while Albert signed his, only by Albert Einstein.”
Nevertheless, Albert Einstein stated clearly – “Our work on the Theory of Relativity”, and he agreed to give all the Nobel Prize money to his first wife. Some believe as part of the divorce settlement, some say to buy her silence. Whatever the case, Albert Einstein never denied Mileva’s contribution, and never again produced the work as powerful as the Theory of Relativity.
Who was the lady behind the Theory of Relativity, with the name of Mileva Maric, later Mileva Einstein-Marity?

Mileva Maric was born on December 19, 1875, into a wealthy Serbian family, in the city of Titel, in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy (modern Serbia). When she turned 15, her father managed to obtain a special permission for her to take classes at an all male prep school. This was very unusual and frustrating for a young girl, she needed to be as brave as she was smart. Mileva was all that, her obsession with knowledge was stronger than anything else.
Since she earned the highest grades, demonstrating a special talent for math and physics, Mileva went to Zurich University, one of the few in Europe that accepted women. After just a couple of months, thanks to her brilliant mind and knowledge, she managed to switch to the prestigious Zurich Polytechnic. Mileva Maric was only the fifth woman accepted there. Again, she had to fight for her place under the sun, among all male classes. And, she did it one more time. Her first two years were great success. At that time she fell for her fellow student Albert Einstein. They shared the mutual love for math and physics. From Heidelberg, where she spent a semester in 1897, Mileva wrote to Albert about her fascination with the lecture on “the relationship between the velocity of a molecule and distance traversed by it between collisions”. This became later the topic relevant to “Einstein-Marity’s studies of Brownian motion”, also published during their marriage in 1905.
Although an excellent student, Mileva never graduated. She committed a moral crime. At the time of final exams, she was pregnant. Pregnant and not officially married, what a nerve! Pregnant women were not allowed on the campus. Only Albert graduated. The couple married in 1903. They had a daughter, and two sons.
Evan Harris Walker, who researched the new documents, claimed that Mileva must have been the co-author of some of the scientific papers, published in 1905, if not even the sole author. “Here are some pieces of evidence for this thesis,” Walker said. “I found a statement in 13 of 43 Albert’s letters to Mileva, that refers to her research, or to an ongoing collaborative effort. For example – in document 74, Albert Einstein says ‘Another method which has similarities with yours’. In document 75, Albert writes ‘I am also looking forward very much to our new work. You must now continue with your investigation’. In document 79, he says ‘We will send it to Wiedermann’s Annalen’. In document 107, ‘Prof. Weber is very nice to me. I gave him our paper’, etc.”
Mileva and Albert shared a great passion, equally for science and for each other. So, what happened to these people? A younger woman happened to them. Albert Einstein had an affair with his young cousin Elsa. He decided to leave his family. The genius was a human after all. Elsa even allowed him to keep his other mistresses, but to reduce the affair business to twice a week. It seemed, Albert liked this more than his family. So, in 1919, when observation of solar eclipse proved the Theory of Relativity, Mileva was already divorced, with no job, no money, and chronically ill. But, she had teen age children to take care of. The Noble Prize money of 1921, reached her not before 1923. It was the smallest sum the Nobel Foundation had ever distributed.
Mileva Maric Einstein was just one of those brilliant women who were simply born before their time. No matter if she contributed to the Theory of Relativity, or how big her contribution was, she influenced one of the brightest minds of our time.
“Everything that I achieved in my life, I must thank Mileva. She is my genius inspirer, my protector against the hardships of life and science. Without her, my work would have never been started nor finished.” – Albert Einstein in 1905.
Photo by: Wikimedia Commons
Sources: PBS.org| Teslasociety.com