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Celebrating one Hundred Years of the Theory of Relativity in the year 2005

E=mc²

An appeal to rebuild Mileva Maric's (Albert Einstein's first wife) grave stone on her grave site in Zurich, Switzerland and to keep her memory alive.

Mileva Maric (1875-1948)

Above: Picture of Einstein and Mileva Maric taken in 1911 when both were in their early thirties.

Mileva Maric died in August 4, 1948 in Zurich, Switzerland and was buried at Northeim Friedhof Cemetery in Zurich, Switzerland.

Her grave is now covered with grass and the gravestone was removed from her grave by the cemetery because of non-payment of the cemetery fees.

The Tesla Memorial Society of New York is appealing to the world scientific community, the feminine organizations, the Serbian and Jewish communities to rebuild her grave stone on her grave and keep the memory of Mileva Maric alive. Mileva Maric Einstein is one of the greatest woman in history and it is our obligation to commemorate her scientific achievements and contribution to the world.

Above: Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Above: The first Solvay Congress, held at the Hotel Metropole in Brussels during October and November 1911. The elite of the century are pictured here. In the picture are Madame Curie, Max Planck, Ernest Rutherford, Einstein and others.

Above: The Olympia Academy: Conrad Habicht, Maurice Solovine and Albert Einstein.

Above: Einstein and Max Planck, the originator of the quantum theory which was important in the development of Einstein's theories.

Above: Niels Bohr, developer of the model of the atom, and Einstein.

Above: ^{Einstein's letter to Franklin
D. Roosevelt (President of the United States) about the development of the
atomic bomb}

Above: Mileva Maric with two of her sons.

Above: Albert Einstein and Mileva Maric holding her son.

Above: Mileva and Hans Albert, 1907.

Above: The letter of Mileva Maric to Einstein from Heidelberg, October 20, 1897.

The winter semester of 1897 to 1898 Mileva Maric spent in Heidelberg, she was fascinated with a lecture about the relationship between the velocity of a molecule and the distance traversed by it between collisions, and she wrote to Einstein about that in this letter above. This was a topic relevant in Einstein's studies of Brownian motion and discussed in one of his famous three papers published n 1905.

Above: Einstein with Hans Albert (son), 1903.

Above: Albert Einstein and Mileva with Hans Albert, 1904.

Above: The Einstein Medal

Above: Entrance to Nordheim Friedhof Cemetery, Zurich, Switzerland.

Above: Mileva Maric Einstein's grave site in Northeim Friedhof Cemetery in Zurich, Switzerland. The grave site is covered with grass, the gravestone was removed by the cemetery because of non-payment of the cemetery fees. Only a basket of flowers is a reminder of her grave site.

Mileva Maric-Einstein, the first wife of Albert Einstein was a Serbian scientist, mathematician, school mate and companion of Albert Einstein. New evidence indicates that she is the co-author of the Theory of Relativity. Einstein received the Nobel Prize for his Theory of Relativity and other scientific studies. He gave his wife, Mileva Maric, the money from the Nobel Prize he received but he did not publicly acknowledge her scientific involvement in his work.

According to Evan Harris Walker, a physicist, the basic ideas for relativity came from Mileva. Biographer Abram Joffe claims to have seen an original manuscript for the theory of relativity which was signed, "Einstein-Maric".

Mileva was born in Titel in Vojvodina, Serbia, from a Serbian family. During her early years at university, she became an acquaintance of Nikola Tesla as a mathematics student. In 1896 she entered the Swiss Federal Polytechnic as the only woman student. Einstein started his studies in the same year. Einstein and Maric fell in love, had a child, Lieserl and married on January 6, 1903.

Einstein and Mileva had two sons and a daughter; their daughter Lieserl, born before their marriage and she died in childhood. Hans Albert, their older son, became a professor in hydraulic engineering at the University of California at Berkeley. The other son was psychotic and Mileva cared for him until she died in 1948.

Above (from left to right): Brigitte Knopfel - biographer of Mileva Maric, Dr. Anna Pia Maissen - City Archive Zurich, Father Simeun Prodanovic - Serbian Orthodox Church Zurich, Momirka Marinkovic - Consul General of Serbia and Montenegro in Zurich, Marianne Heorld - City Hall Zurich, Switzerland and Trudi Wolf - Northeim Cemetery Office and Peter Stojanovic - Tesla Memorial Society of Switzerland and organizer of this historic event.

Above: Father Simeun Prodanovic, Serbian Orthodox Priest placing a cross on Mileva's gravesite in Zurich, Switzerland.

A historic event took place in Nordheim Friedhof Cemetery in Zurich on Mileva Maric's grave on June 23, 2004 where the Tesla Memorial Society of Switzerland organized a visit to the gravesite of Mileva Maric with the purpose of erecting the gravestone of Mileva Maric-Einstein grave. Mileva Maric's gravestone was removed by the cemetery for many years because of non-payment of the cemetery fees. The meeting on June 23, 2004 was held to organize the erection of the gravestone of Mileva Maric-Einstein. Present at the meeting were:

Anna Pia Maissen - City Archive Zurich
Brigitte Knopfel - biographer of Mileva Maric
Momirka Marinkovic - Consul General of Serbia and Montenegro in Zurich, Switzerland
Marianne Heorld - City Hall Zurich
Father Simeun Prodanovic - Serbian Orthodox Church Zurich
Trudi Wolf - Northeim Cemetery Office
Peter Stojanovic - Tesla Memorial Society of Switzerland and organizer of this historic event.

Above: Father Simeun Prodanovic - Serbian Orthodox Church Zurich and Peter Stojanovic - Tesla Memorial Society of Switzerland and organizer of the meeting.

In the name of the Tesla Memorial Society of New York and many admirers of Mileva Maric around the world we thank the participants of this historic meeting. A special thanks to Mr. Peter Stojanovic, Tesla Memorial Society Switzerland, for his efforts in the organization of the commemorative meeting on Mileva Maric Einstein's gravesite.

The gravestone of Mileva Maric, one of the greatest woman in history, will be erected.

Photos from Nordheim Friedhof Cemetery, Zurich, Switzerland by Peter Stojanovic - Tesla Memorial Society of Switzerland and organizer of this historic event.

Click here for the Visit to Mileva Maric-Einstein grave site at Nordheim Fridhof in Zurich, Switerland on June 23, 2004

Unpublished Documents about Mileva Maric Einstein and Albert Einstein

Above: The Death Certificate of Mileva Maric-Einstein.

Mileva Maric-Einstein died on August 4, 1948 at the age of 72. The last address was Zurich 6, Huttenstr. 62. The place of death is Carmenstr. 18, Klinik Eos., Zurich.

Above: Photocopy of Cemetery Register from Nordheim Fridhof Cemetery in Zurich, Switzerland. Mileva was registered into the cemetery under the number 9357 with the last address Huttenstr. 62, Zurich.

Above: The bill for funeral services for Mileva Maric-Einstein by the Russian Orthodox Church in Zurich, Switzerland. According to the last wish of Mileva Maric the funeral services were to be held the Russian Orthodox Church. Mileva Maric was Serbian Orthodox.

Above: The location of Mileva Maric-Einstein's grave at Friedhof Nordheim Cemetery.

Mileva Maric was buried on Friday, August 6, 1948 at 4:30 p.m. in Friedhof Nordheim Cemetery. This is the cemetery office layout of Cemetery Section #9 where she is buried. Grave number 9157 marked by an "X" is the location of her grave.

Above: Statement from the City of Zurich Administration stating where the grave of Mileva Maric is located in Friedhof Nordheim Cemetery.

Above: The unpublished letter of Einstein to Mileva Maric on May 30, 1926.

Above: The unpublished letter from Albert Einstein to Mileva Maric written in Lidden, on May 2, 1923.

Above: (continued) The unpublished letter from Albert Einstein to Mileva Maric and family written in Lidden, on May 2, 1923. The second letter was signed "Warm wishes from me to all of you, Your Papa (father)".

Women and the Nobel Prize

They have changed our world by improving health care, increasing the chance for peace and social justice, they developed new technologies tool necessary for our life and progress, they interpreted the human experience and contributed significantly to our civilization. Most of these woman encountered some form of discrimination against women if they attended to gain admission to college and universities.

Mileva Maric did not receive the Nobel Prize, Einstein gave her money from his awarded Nobel Prize but did not publicly recognize her contribution to his work. After their marriage Mileva sacrificed her professional goals helping Einstein career instead. Mileva entered Einstein's life in a crucial period of his scientific achievement.

The following is from the

(click above to follow link)

In 1903, only two years after the Nobel Foundation was established, a Nobel Prize was awarded to a woman, Marie Curie, for the first time. Women have been winning Nobel Prizes ever since. In fact, one woman, Bertha von Suttner was influential in convincing Alfred Nobel to set aside a Prize for peace. Women have won Prizes in all categories with the exception of Economics (which was established in 1968 and first awarded in 1969).

Physics:

1903	Marie Sklodowska Curie
1963	Maria Goeppert Mayer

Chemistry:

1911	Marie Sklodowska Curie
1935	Irene Joliot-Curie
1964	Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin

Physiology & Medicine:

1947	Gerty Radnitz Cori
1977	Rosalyn Sussman Yalow
1983	Barbara McClintock
1986	Rita Levi-Montalcini
1988	Gertrude Elion
1995	Christiane Nusslein-Volhard

Peace:

1905	Baroness Bertha von Suttner
1931	Jane Addams
1946	Emily Greene Balch
1976	Betty Williams
1976	Mairead Corrigan
1979	Mother Teresa
1982	Alva Myrdal
1991	Aung San Suu Kyi
1992	Rigoberta Menchu Tum
1997	Jody Williams
2003	Shirin Ebadi

Literature:

1909	Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlof
1926	Grazia Deledda
1928	Sigrid Undset
1938	Pearl Buck
1945	Gabriela Mistral
1966	Nelly Sachs
1991	Nadine Gordimer
1993	Toni Morrison
1996	Wislawa Szymborska

For more information about female scientists in general and Nobel Prize-winning women in particular, we recommend the following books from our Book Stacks.

Click on links on Mileva Maric below:

Click on links on Albert Einstein below: