Mileva Einstein Maric Biography

Almost all of us know the name of Albert Einstein, the world-renowned theoretical physicist. In the higher classes of school, we study his theory of relativity, the theory of quantum mechanics. We all know the bits and pieces of his life, his research, his Jews origin, his escapade to the USA. But how many of us know about his wife? Very few of us actually are acquainted with the name - Mileva Einstein Maric, his first wife, his friend, and mother of his two sons.

In this Mileva Einstein Maric biography, you would know about this Serbian lady, who was herself a promising mathematician and physicist. But she could not accomplish much in academics, as she had to face many hardships - both in the professional and personal sphere. Mileva Einstein Maric biography would be an example, how many women, either in their own wish or forced by circumstances, leave their promising career and get lost in oblivion.

Early Life of Mileva Einstein Maric

Maric was born on 19th December 1875 into an affluent family of Serbian descent. At the time of her birth, her family was staying in Titel – presently in Serbia, but then part of Austria-Hungary. His father was in military service, but later took a job in court and settled in Zagreb. She was the eldest among the three siblings.

She was first enrolled in a girls’ high school in Novi Sad – a Serbian city in the year 1886 but later went to Royal Serbian Grammar School in Šabac. In 1891, her father arranged some special provisions, so that she, as a private student, could attend the Royal Classical High school – a boys’ school in Zagreb. There she got Vladimir Varićak – a renowned mathematician, with important works in hyperbolic geometry - as her mathematics teacher. Again she had to obtain special permission to attend physics lectures in her tenth grade.

Maric in Higher Studies

She not only passed her high school examination with good grades, but she also qualified in an examination called Matura-Exam – equivalent to the present-day joint entrance examination for various universities. She enrolled herself in the University of Zurich to study medicine, in 1896. But after one semester, in the same year, she joined Zurich Polytechnic School (later the famous ETH - Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule). There she was enrolled in the diploma course for Physics and mathematics teachers of secondary schools.

In that era, many of the schools or colleges had prohibited women from taking physics or mathematics courses. According to a recently published book by Allen Esterson & David C. Cassidy (MIT Press, 2019), during her short academic career, Maric had to move to different countries to enrol herself in such courses. Also in order to get admitted in these courses with restrictions on the admission of women, she had to have an excellent score in the entrance examinations. In Zurich Polytechnic School, she was the only woman in her section and the only fifth female student to get enrolled in that course. Later in the winter semester of 1897/98, she went to Heidelberg University for an audit course in physics and mathematics.

After rejoining the Zurich Polytechnic, she attended lectures in subjects which, at that time, were generally taken up by male students. The courses she took included theoretical and applied physics, calculus, geometry, and mechanics. She scored an average of 5.05 out of 6 in her intermediate diploma examination in 1899. 

Unfortunately, she failed the final examination for the teaching diploma course, with a modest average of 4.00 out of 6.00, and poor grades in mathematics. Next year, in 1901, she again appeared for the final examination, but could not improve her grade. With that her dream to continue her diploma dissertation as PhD research under another renowned physics professor Heinrich Weber, was shattered.

Maric and Albert Einstein

Maric met Albert Einstein during her teaching diploma course at Zurich Polytechnic School. They were classmates and became friends. According to some biographers, their mutual interest in physics and not so good performance in mathematics brought them closer. At that time, Einstein was 17 and Maric was 20 years old. Though Maric took the intermediate diploma examination one year later than Einstein, their grades in physics were the same, though her grade average was much lower than Einstein. The camaraderie that emerged from the mutual interest in science soon changed to a romantic relationship.

Einstein in his letters used to call Maric ‘Dollie’. The correspondence between them, during her stay at Heidelberg University, shows they became inseparable in the short time they shared in Zurich Polytechnic School. At that time in Zurich, Einstein was already working on the ideas of molecular forces and relative motions. According to some researchers, Maric was also actively involved in forming or theorizing the findings, as in many of the correspondences between them, Einstein discussed those theories using ‘we’ or ‘our’.

Struggles of Young Maric

Many of you may be wondering, such a bright student – Maric, who cracked all those entrance examinations to get enrolled in the courses where women were not allowed, why did she fail to qualify for her diploma examination. A popular view is, when involved with Einstein, she prioritized her relationship more than her studies. And later their relationship went through rough times as, due to the difference in their age and cultural background, Einstein’s family was against the match.

In 1900, the year Einstein graduated from the school and started looking for a position, Maric failed in her final examination. Next year, again when she appeared for the final examination, she was already working in a laboratory to support her expenses and was three months pregnant with Einstein’s child. 

During this time, she moved back to her family and in 1902, gave birth to their first child – Lieserl. In none of the correspondences between them, in the later part of their life, there was any mention of that girl child, except only once in 1903, when the child had a fever. The popular view was that the child was placed for adoption. It can easily be assumed, the amount of emotional turmoil she had to go through at that young age- she was only in her late 20s. Maric’s life as a single mother, in a society - which was always reluctant to consider women as per men in the realm of science or academics, must have been too hard for her to continue her studies.

Maric’s Marriage and Divorce

Maric and Einstein finally got married on 6th January 1903 in Bern, Switzerland. A year later, their first son was born. At that time, Einstein was working in a patent office - Federal Office for Intellectual Property. But mostly his time was devoted to his research. By 1905, Einstein published a series of his findings, including his most famous paper - “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies“. This series of four papers dealt with the Theory of relativity. As those papers published in a single year, changed the set conception of space, time, energy and mass, they are popularly known as ‘Annus mirabilis papers’ (Latin of Miracle year), i.e. paper published in ‘Miracle Year’. Again, the popular belief is, apart from his few coworkers in the patent office, Maric also had some influence in the work of Einstein. But of course, there is no concrete proof of her contribution.

In 1911, Maric and Einstein moved back to Prague, as Einstein got a faculty position at Charles University. By that time, their second son was one year old. But within one year, they again moved back to Switzerland, as Einstein became a professor in ETH.

At the same time, Albert Einstein started a relationship with his cousin Elsa Lowenthal.  Though the relationship between Maric and Einstein started to get stained, they were together till 1914. Einstein wanted to move to Berlin, though mainly because of the invitation of Max Planck and Walther Nernst, to Maric’s dismay, Elsa Lowenthal was also staying in Berlin. Maric went to Berlin with the two sons, Hans and Eduard. But after a short stint, with her relationship with Einstein hitting rock bottom, she left for Switzerland – just after the beginning of World War I. 

They got divorced in 1916 and their sons stayed with her. Einstein married Elsa within three months of the divorce.

Life of Maric After Einstein

Einstein got the Nobel Prize in 1921. As per their divorce agreement, part of the prize money was held as a trust for the two boys. She had the access to the interests of the money, with which she started a boarding house in Zurich and was teaching private lessons to students. By 1930, the younger son Eduard was diagnosed with Schizophrenia. That was a final blow to her. To finance the expensive treatment and institutionalized care for her son, she had to sell the properties she had. Her elder son, Hans, moved to America around 1938.

On 4th August 1948, she died a lonely death in Zurich.

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Image: Mileva Einstein Maric

Remembering Mileva Einstein Maric

Though few plaques were set up in later years in the places she stayed, or schools she studied, Mileva Einstein Maric is mostly remembered as a woman, who like the numerous other women, sacrificed her career and was finally forgotten by all.

There are many controversies and conflicting theories regarding her contribution to the works of Einstein. But as the students of the 21st Century, you should remember her as an intelligent woman, who braved many obstacles to pursue her studies, and finally lost to the society’s bias and barriers.

There are still many hurdles in present academic worlds to be faced by female scientists. But if one has a strong will to pursue her dream, would surely win.