einstein

“The Nobel Prize—in the event of the divorce and the event that it is bestowed upon me—would be ceded to you in full.” 31
It was a financially enticing wager. The Nobel Prize was then, as it is now, very lucrative, indeed huge. In 1918, it was worth about 135,000
Swedish kronor, or 225,000 German marks—more than 37 times what Mari was getting annually. In addition, the German mark was starting to
collapse, but the Nobel would be paid in stable Swedish currency. Most poignantly, there would be some symbolic justice: she had helped Einstein
with the math and proofreading and domestic support for his 1905 papers, and now she could reap some of the reward.
At first she was furious. “Exactly two years ago, such letters pushed me over the brink into misery, which I still can’t get over,” she replied. “Why
do you torment me so endlessly? I really don’t deserve this from you.” 32
But within a few days, she began to assess the situation more clinically. Her life had reached a low point. She suffered pains, anxieties, and
depression. Her younger son was in a sanatorium. The sister who had come to help her succumbed to depression and had been committed to an
asylum. And her brother, who was serving as a medic in the Austrian army, had been captured by the Russians. Perhaps an end to the battles with
her husband and the chance of financial security might, in fact, be best for her. So she discussed the option with her neighbor Emil Zürcher, who
was a lawyer and a friend.
A few days later she decided to take the deal. “Have your lawyer write Dr. Zürcher about how he envisions it, how the contract should be,” she
replied. “I must leave upsetting things to objective persons. I do not want to stand in the way of your happiness, if you are so resolved.” 33
The negotiations proceeded through letters and third parties through April. “I am curious what will last longer, the world war or our divorce
proceedings,” he complained lightly at one point. But as things were progressing the way he wanted, he merrily added, “In comparison, this little
matter of ours is still much the more pleasant. Amiable greetings to you and kisses to the boys.”
The main issue was money. Mari complained to a friend that Einstein was being stingy (in fact he wasn’t) because of Elsa. “Elsa’s very greedy,”
Mari charged. “Her two sisters are very rich, and she’s always envious of them.” Letters went back and forth over exactly how the prospective
Nobel Prize money would be paid, what right the children would have to it, what would happen to it if she remarried, and even what compensation
he would offer in the unlikely event that the prize was never awarded to him. 34
Another contentious issue was whether his sons could visit him in Berlin. On barring that, Mari held firm. 35 Finally, at the end of April, he
surrendered this final point. “I’m giving in about the children because I now believe you want to handle matters in a conciliatory manner,” he said.
“Maybe you will later take the view that the boys can come here without reservation. For the time being, I will see them in Switzerland.” 36
Given Mari ’s poor health, Einstein had tried to work out another option for the two boys: having them live in nearby Lucerne with his sister, Maja,
and her husband, Paul Winteler. The Wintelers were willing to take custody of their nephews, and they took the train to Bern one day to see if this
could be arranged. But when they arrived, Zangger was away, and they wanted his help before discussing things with Mari . So Paul went over to
see his feisty sister Anna, who was married to Michele Besso, to see if they could have a room for the night.
He had planned not to tell Anna the purpose of their mission, as she had a protective attitude toward Mari and a hair-trigger sense of righteous
indignation. “But she guessed the purpose of our coming,” Maja reported to Einstein, “and when Paul confirmed her suspicions a torrent of
accusations, scoldings, and threats poured forth.” 37
So Einstein wrote a letter to Anna to try to enlist her support. Mari , he argued, was “incapable of running a household” given her condition. It
would be best if Hans Albert went to live with Maja and Paul, he argued. Eduard could either do the same or stay in a mountain-air clinic until his
health improved. Einstein would pay for it all, including Mari ’s costs in a sanatorium in Lucerne, where she could see her sons every day.
Unfortunately, Einstein made the mistake of ending the letter by pleading with Anna to help resolve the situation so that he could marry Elsa and
end the shame that their relationship was causing her daughters. “Think of the two young girls, whose prospects of getting married are being
hampered,” he said. “Do put in a good word for me sometime to Miza [Mari ] and make it clear to her how unkind it is to complicate the lives of
others pointlessly.” 38
Anna shot back that Elsa was the one being selfish. “If Elsa had not wanted to make herself so vulnerable, she should not have run after you so
conspicuously.” 39
In truth, Anna was quite difficult, and she soon had a falling out with Mari as well. “She tried to meddle in my affairs in a way that reveals potential
human malice,” Mari complained to Einstein. At the very least, this helped improve relations between the Einsteins. “I see from your letter that you
also have had problems with Anna Besso,” he wrote Mari just after they had agreed to the divorce terms. “She has written me such impertinent
letters that I’ve put an end to further correspondence.” 40
It would be a few more months before the divorce decree could become final, but now that the negotiations were complete, everyone seemed
relieved that there would be closure. Mari ’s health improved enough so that the children would remain with her, 41 and the letters back and forth
from Berlin and Zurich became friendlier. “A satisfactory relationship has formed between me and my wife through the correspondence about the
divorce!” he told Zangger. “A funny opportunity indeed for reconciliation.” 42
This détente meant that Einstein had an option for his summer vacation of 1918: visit his children in Zurich, or have a less stressful holiday with
Elsa. He chose the latter, partly because his doctor recommended against the altitude, and for seven weeks he and Elsa stayed in the Baltic Sea
resort of Aarenshoop. He brought along some light beach reading, Immanuel Kant’s Prolegomena, spent “countless hours pondering the quantum
problem,” and gloried in relaxing and recovering from his stomach ailments. “No telephones, no responsibilities, absolute tranquility,” he wrote to a
friend. “I am lying on the shore like a crocodile, allowing myself to be roasted by the sun, never see a newspaper, and do not give a hoot about the
so-called world.” 43
From this unlikely vacation, he sought to mollify Hans Albert, who had written to say he missed his father.“Write me please why you aren’t coming,
at least,” he asked. 44 Einstein’s explanation was sad and very defensive:
You can easily imagine why I could not come. This winter I was so sick that I had to lie in bed for over two months. Every meal must be cooked
separately for me. I may not make any abrupt movements. So I’d have been allowed neither to go on a walk with you nor to eat at the hotel . . .
Added to this is that I had quarreled with Anna Besso, and that I did not want to become a burden to Mr. Zangger again, and finally, that I
doubted whether my coming mattered much to you. 45
His son was understanding. He wrote him letters filled with news and ideas, including a description and sketch of an idea he had for a pendulum
inside a monorail that would swing and break the electric circuit whenever the train tilted too much.
Einstein had rebuked Hans Albert, unfairly, for not finding some way to visit him in Germany during the vacation. That would have required Mari
to waive the provision in their separation agreement that barred such trips, and it would also have been sadly impractical. “My coming to Germany
would be almost more impossible than your coming here,” Hans Albert wrote, “because in the end I am the only one in the family who can shop for
anything.” 46