“Women in Nuclear History” series #27 – Mileva Maric

Mileva Maric – Serbian physicist and mathematician, and the first wife of Albert Einstein, is recognized as our #27th installment of Women in Nuclear History. Her life story is remarkable and illustrates the complexities of Einstein’s character. The details concerning Albert Einstein and Mileva’s marriage were not made public until the early 1990s, as access to certain documents remained restricted by Helen Dukas and Otto Nathan, who safeguarded unfavorable information about Einstein.

  1. Mileva Maric was born on December 19, 1875, in Titel, Serbia, into an affluent family. Despite facing physical challenges due to a hip displacement, which resulted in a noticeable limp throughout her life, she persevered.
  2. A gifted student, she became the first woman to enroll in high school physics courses in the Austro-Hungarian Empire after her father secured special permission for her entry into an all-boys school in Zagreb.
  3. In 1896, she became one of only five women admitted to the Department of Mathematics and Physics at Zurich Polytechnic (now ETH Zurich). As the sole female in her class of six, she quickly formed a bond with her classmate, Albert Einstein.
  4. Although she excelled in physics academically, Mileva faced significant challenges, failing her final diploma exams twice (in 1900 and 1901). This was likely due to a combination of gender bias and the personal stress stemming from an unplanned pregnancy.
  5. Prior to marrying Albert, they welcomed a daughter, Lieserl, who was sent to live with Mileva’s parents and likely succumbed to scarlet fever. After their marriage in 1903, they had two sons, Hans Albert and Eduard. While Mileva’s parents supported their union, Einstein’s parents opposed it due to religious, cultural, and age differences—Mileva being an Orthodox Christian and Albert a Jewish man from Ulm, Germany, with a 3.5-year age gap between them.
  6. Correspondence between Einstein and Mileva reflects their collaborative efforts, with references to “our work” on relative motion, indicating her crucial role during the development of his early theories. She was fluent in mathematics and she assisted Einstein with complex calculations. Their son Hans Albert noted that they both worked together during the evenings on his groundbreaking projects, and she was fully grasping the significance of her husband’s scientific achievements.
  7. After moving to Berlin, Albert began an affair with his first cousin, Elsa Loewenthal. As their marriage unraveled, he imposed a set of strict rules for Mileva to follow, including obligation of serving him meals in his room while severing all personal relationships.
  8. Their divorce settlement in 1919 included a stipulation that should Albert win the Nobel Prize, the prize money would go to Mileva. Upon winning in 1921, he honored this agreement, allowing her to use the funds for their children’s care.
  9. Mileva endured depression and debilitating back pain for much of her life. In her later years, she dedicated herself to caring for her younger son, Eduard, who struggled with schizophrenia. This role posed significant financial and emotional challenges.
  10. She passed away on August 4, 1948, at the age of 72. Her son Eduard lived until 55 years old, receiving care at the University of Zürich’s psychiatric clinic. In Serbia, Mileva is celebrated as a heroine, and several biographies have been written in various languages acknowledging her contributions to Einstein’s work. Whether she served as a silent co-author of the 1905 “Annus Mirabilis” papers continues to be a contentious topic among historians, with many recognizing her as a vital intellectual partner during the transformative year (1905) when Einstein published five groundbreaking papers.

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