Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Israel News

Einstein’s Theory of Infidelity

The Hebrew University this week released a treasure-trove of letters written by Albert Einstein between 1912 and 1955, the year of the physicist’s death. The correspondence shows that in addition to his knack for unlocking the secrets of the universe, Einstein was also a supremely prolific philanderer. Remarkable also is the candor with which he discussed his extramarital dalliances with his second wife, Elsa, and her daughter, Margot. “It is true that M. [Einstein mistress Ethel Michanowski] followed me to [England],” Einstein wrote in a 1931 letter to his stepdaughter, “and her chasing after me is getting out of control.”

Margot’s will stipulated that the university was to keep the correspondence sealed until the 20th anniversary of her death, July 8, 2006.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.