Maja Einstein (born Maria Einstein, married name Maja Winteler-Einstein) (18 November 1881 - 25 June 1951) was a German Romanist and the younger sister of the physicist

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

Early life and education

Einstein was born in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

. Her mother was Pauline Einstein (née Koch) and her father was Hermann Einstein. Maja Einstein attended elementary school in Munich. Through mismanagement the family got into financial difficulties and moved to Italy. In Milan she attended the German-speaking International School from 1887 to 1894. In 1899 she moved to Aarau, where her brother

Albert Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Alber ...

attended the Kantonsschule and joined the family of the school professor

Jost Winteler Jost Winteler (21 November 1846 - 23 February 1929) was a Swiss professor of Greek and history at the Kantonsschule Aarau (today called the Old Cantonal School Aarau), a linguist, a "noted" philologist, an ornithologist, a journalist, and a pu ...

. There she met his youngest son Paul Winteler, her future husband. In Aarau she was a student of the teacher's seminar from 1899 to 1902. After the death of her father she acquired the teacher's patent in 1905. Einstein studied Romance languages and literature in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, Bern, and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. She received her doctorate from the

University of Bern The University of Bern (german: Universität Bern, french: Université de Berne, la, Universitas Bernensis) is a university in the Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It is a compreh ...

in 1909 with the dissertation ''Feststellung des Handschriftenverhältnises des Chevalier au Cygne und Enfances Godefroy''. On 23 March 1910 she married Paul Winteler and lost her work permit as a result.

Life

Einstein and her husband moved to Lucerne-Bramberg. After the death of Maja Einstein's mother in 1920, they moved to Italy and acquired an estate outside Florence in Colonnata (Sesto Fiorentino). In 1924, her brother

gave them 7,000

Reichsmark The (; sign: ℛℳ; abbreviation: RM) was the currency of Germany from 1924 until 20 June 1948 in West Germany, where it was replaced with the , and until 23 June 1948 in East Germany, where it was replaced by the East German mark. The Reich ...

s to pay off debts that burdened the estate. Their financial problems continued due to unemployment. Jost Winteler mit Familie und Maja Einstein, um 1900

Jost Winteler mit Familie und Maja Einstein, um 1900

Following the introduction of anti-Semitic laws by Benito Mussolini in Italy, Maja Einstein relocated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in February 1939. She moved to Princeton to live with her brother

on Mercer Street. Her husband Paul was denied entry to enter the U.S. for health reasons, and he stayed with relatives in

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

. Maja Einstein intended to return home after the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. In 1946 she suffered a stroke. She later developed

arteriosclerosis Arteriosclerosis is the thickening, hardening, and loss of elasticity of the walls of arteries. This process gradually restricts the blood flow to one's organs and tissues and can lead to severe health risks brought on by atherosclerosis, which ...

and became bedridden, which prevented her from returning to Europe. Einstein maintained a correspondence with Paul until her death. She died on 25 June 1951 of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

as a result of a fracture of the upper arm in Princeton. Her husband died on 15 July 1952 in Geneva.

Early life and education

Life

References

Further reading