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The Little-Known Story of Mileva Marić, Albert Einstein’s 1st Wife and Tragically Overlooked Partner

A photograph of Mileva Marić and her husband, Albert Einstein in 1912. PHOTO: Allthatsinteresting.com/ETH Library

While Mileva Marić was married to Albert Einstein, many believe she greatly contributed to his world-changing discoveries — only to be denied credit later on.

By Genevieve Carlton | 25 April 2022

ALL THAT’S INTERESTING — In 1896, a young Albert Einstein walked into the Polytechnic Institute in Zurich. The 17-year-old student was beginning a four-year program in the school’s physics and mathematics department. Of the five scholars admitted to the department that year, only one of them — Mileva Marić — was a woman.

Soon, the two young physics students were inseparable. Mileva Marić and Albert Einstein conducted research and wrote papers together, and soon began falling in love. “I’m so lucky to have found you,” Einstein wrote to Marić in a letter, “a creature who is my equal, and who is as strong and independent as I am! I feel alone with everyone else except you.”

But Einstein’s [Jewish] family never approved of Mileva Marić [a Christian]. And when their relationship soured, Einstein turned against his wife, and may have robbed her of crucial credit for her work on “his” groundbreaking discoveries. […]

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