Elsa Einstein Biography

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Albert Einstein’s second wife was Elsa Einstein. She was also his cousin. They were maternal first cousins since their mothers were sisters, and they were paternal second cousins because their fathers were first cousins. Elsa (Albert Einstein’s spouse) was born with the surname Einstein, but gave it up when she married her first husband, Max Löwenthal, and reclaimed it when she married her cousin Albert in 1919.

Later Life of Elsa Einstein

Albert and Elsa Einstein moved to Princeton, New Jersey, in 1933. Elsa suffered an eye ailment and heart and renal problems shortly after they relocated to 112 Mercer Street, which they had purchased that August. When Elsa was diagnosed with cancer, Einstein chose to devote a large portion of his time to his studies. Einstein felt "strenuous intellectual activity and gaze at God's essence are the reconciling, strengthening yet persistently strict angels that shall take me through all of life's tribulations", according to Walter Isaacson's book Einstein: His Life and Universe. Einstein tried to divert his attention away from his problems by concentrating on tasks that would keep him from thinking about Elsa's death. She died on December 20, 1936, in the residence on Mercer Street, and Elsa Einstein cause of death was the painful disease of cancer.

Einstein Children

The Einstein family is named after Albert Einstein (1879–1955), a famous physicist. Jakob Weil, Einstein's great-great-great-great-grandfather, was his earliest known relative, born in the late 17th century, and the family still exists today. Löb Moses Sontheimer (1745–1831), Albert Einstein's great-great-grandfather, was also the grandfather of Stuttgart tenor Heinrich Sontheim (1820–1912).

Albert had three children with his first wife, Mileva Mari, the youngest of whom, Lieserl, was born a year before they married. So there were three Einstein children.

Elsa Einstein was Albert Einstein's second wife, and her mother, Fanny Koch, was Albert's mother's sister, and her father, Rudolf Einstein, was the son of Raphael Einstein, Albert's paternal grandfather's brother. Albert and Elsa were first cousins via their mothers and second cousins via their fathers.

Why They Moved to the United States

It became increasingly difficult for the Einsteins in Germany after the establishment of the Nazi Party in the early 1930s. Because of the Nazis' anti-Semitic policies, Einstein was open in his opposition to them. He was travelling with Elsa in 1933 when he discovered that the government had investigated their vacation cottage. Their belongings were then seized. The Einsteins sought shelter in the United States after realizing they couldn't return to Germany.

In October 1933, Elsa and Albert landed in the United States. He was appointed to the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study in New Jersey as a professor of theoretical physics. Her daughter Ilse was diagnosed with cancer the following year, just as she was getting established in her new house. Elsa flew to Paris to be by her side during her final days. Margot, her second daughter, eventually came to America to be with her mother.

Summary of Elsa Einstein Biography

Elsa Einstein, the daughter of Rudolf and Fanny Einstein, was born on January 18, 1876, in Hechingen. Paula and Hermine were her two sisters. In Hechingen, Rudolf worked as a textile manufacturer. She used to play with her cousin Albert on her regular trips to the family in Munich. During the regular visits with the family in Munich, she often played with her cousin Albert Einstein (1879–1955) who was to revolutionize physics with his pioneering works (1905). She referred to him as "Albertle" in Swabian. Albert moved to Milan with his family in 1894, and the two lost contact. 

Their paths diverged after Albert Einstein left Germany in 1894 to join his family in Milan. Today, nothing is known about Elsa's education in Hechingen. Elsa married Max Loewenthal (1864–1914), a textile trader from Berlin, in 1896. Ilse (1897–1934) and Margot (1899–1986), their daughters, resided with them in Hechingen. Max Loewenthal moved to Berlin in 1902 for professional reasons. His family decided to stay in Hechingen. Their son was born in 1903, but he died not long after.

Elsa left her husband in 1908 and moved to Berlin's Haberland Strasse with her two daughters. Around 1912, she met Albert Einstein in Berlin and began a relationship with him. Elsa married her cousin Albert in June 1919. Albert Einstein's stepdaughters, Ilse and Margot, resided with them.

During her marriage, Elsa's major priority was to look after her world-famous husband and protect him from the intrusiveness of the outside world. She joined him on many of his excursions and was pleased to see that he was treated with admiration and respect. She was the driving factor behind the construction of their vacation residence in Caputh, near Potsdam, in 1929.

Albert Einstein and his wife Elsa moved to Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States in 1933. In August 1935, they purchased a home at 112 Mercer Street. She also wished to relieve him of his regular responsibilities. However, she only spent a short time with her "Albertle." Elsa Einstein died in her Princeton home on December 20, 1936, after a long illness.

Did You Know

• Albert was a stereotypical head-in-the-clouds scientist (in fact, he coined the stereotype), while Elsa was far more practical. She was in charge of her husband's business dealings and travelled with him all over the world.

• Albert was bombarded with attention, the majority of which he despised. That's where practical Elsa stepped in. She was his gatekeeper, and she'd keep intruders at bay.

• Albert Einstein Elsa gave talks and travelled to numerous places after her marriage, including the United States. She was present when he received the Nobel Prize in Physics. 

• Albert was offered a chair at Princeton Institute of Advanced Study, and the couple settled in New Jersey. Elsa, on the other hand, travelled to Paris to be with her dying daughter Ilse Einstein.