Maja Einstein

Maja Einstein

Maja Einstein (born Maria Einstein, married Maja Winteler-Einstein; born November 18, 1881 in Munich ; † June 25, 1951 in Princeton , New Jersey) was a German Romance studies and the younger sister of the physicist Albert Einstein , whose confidante she has been since Childhood was.

Life

The siblings Albert and Maja Einstein (around 1893)

Maja Einstein grew up in a Jewish-emancipated family in Munich. Her parents were Hermann and Pauline Einstein , née Koch. Maja Einstein attended primary school in Munich. The family ran into financial difficulties due to mismanagement and moved to Italy. In Milan she graduated from the German-speaking International School from 1887 to 1894. In 1899 she moved to Aarau , where her brother Albert attended the canton school and made contact with the family of the canton school professor Jost Winteler . There she met his youngest son Paul Winteler, her future husband. In Aarau she was a student at the teachers' college from 1899 to 1902 . After the death of her father in 1905, she acquired the teaching certificate. She studied Romance studies in Berlin, Bern and Paris and received her doctorate in 1909 from the University of Bern with the dissertation Determination of the handwriting relationship of the Chevalier au Cygne and the Enfances Godefroy . On March 23, 1910, she married Paul Winteler and lost her work permit because of the celibacy of teachers .

The academic couple - Paul was a lawyer - moved to Lucerne- Bramberg. After the death of Maja Einstein's mother in 1920, their exit plans led to Italy. Outside of Florence they bought the Samos farm in Colonnata ( Sesto Fiorentino ). In 1924 Albert Einstein gave the two of them 7,000 Reichsmarks to repay the debts that weighed on the estate. Maja Einstein entertained many guests, including relatives and friends, including the painter Hans Joachim Staude . Her hospitality, motherliness and helpfulness earned her the nickname “sun”. The childless couple could not avoid financial problems even through economical self-sufficiency and financial support from Maja's brother Albert. Poverty thanks to unemployment was part of the Winteler-Einstein's ideology. Authenticity that was critical of civilization and close to nature was evident in their monastic lifestyle and love for animals.

In February 1939 Maja Einstein emigrated to the USA and moved to Princeton to live with her brother Albert . Her husband was banned from entering the USA for health reasons and stayed with relatives in Geneva . Maja Einstein intended to return home after the end of the Second World War . In 1946 she suffered a stroke ; she also developed arteriosclerosis and became bedridden, which prevented her from returning to Europe. The couple maintained a letter of contact until Maja Einstein's death. She died on June 25, 1951 of pneumonia due to a broken upper arm in Princeton. Her husband Paul Winteler died on July 15, 1952 in Geneva.

Albert Einstein reported after the death of his sister: "In the last few years I have read to her every evening from the finest books of old and new literature."

literature

• Franziska Rogger : Einstein's sister. Maja Einstein - her life and her brother Albert. Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zurich 2005, ISBN 3-03-823138-X .
• Christof Rieber: Albert Einstein. Biography of a nonconformist. Thorbecke-Verlag, Ostfildern 2018, ISBN 978-3-7995-1281-7 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Maja Einstein in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Website Hans Joachim Staude ( memento of November 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), www.staude.it, accessed on December 1, 2011
2. ↑ Franziska Rogger: Einstein's sister. Maja Einstein - her life and her brother Albert . Zurich 2005: Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, ISBN 3-03-823138-X
3. ↑ Einstein virtual  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.