The greatest physicist in history or a dishonest scientist who robbed his wife of her achievements? There are facts that Albert Einstein did not develop the theory of relativity himself.
Mileva Marić, later Mrs. Einstein, was born in the city of Titel in the Austro-Hungarian Vojvodina. Due to complications in childbirth, she suffered damage to her hip and then limped for the rest of her life. 
In order to provide his daughter with the best possible education, her father sent her to a male gymnasium. There Mileva showed for the first time what she can do:she graduated from the school with the best result in physics and mathematics among all students.
The only woman in the group
She continued her education in Zurich, where she moved in 1894. There she also passed her high school diploma and began medical studies. However, she quickly concluded that her real interests were physics and mathematics. So she quit medicine and entered the Zurich Polytechnic. She was the only woman in the group and only the fifth in the history of the department! And that's where she met a student named Albert Einstein.
The young people started to be friends and then they fell in love. They exchanged sensitive letters, talked a lot, learned and read together. Mileva, with her knowledge and intelligence, was an equal intellectual partner for Albert.
Unfortunately, she did not manage to make an equally good impression on Einstein's mother. Her future mother-in-law was strongly against this relationship from the very beginning. She couldn't bear the thought that her son was going to be with a 3.5 years older, lame woman whose mind was not family, but science.
Albert and Mileva. What brought them together was science and affection… which Einstein took full advantage of. A photo of a married couple from 1912 (public domain).
No exams and no diploma
Despite her talents and good academic results, in June 1900 Mileva failed her final exams in college. How did this happen? Most likely, she did not have enough time to prepare herself because she had spent too much time ... helping Einstein explore new theories. However, Albert was not prevented by these additional studies - he completed everything on time and soon left Zurich. Mileva stayed to study for the exams and prepare her thesis. Unfortunately, she also did not pass the re-exams. In addition, it turned out that she was expecting a baby. To this day, it is not fully known what happened to this daughter of Mileva and Albert ...
Einstein reassured his beloved that they would continue their joint scientific work. Meanwhile, he got a job at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern, so Mileva joined him and in 1903 they got married. The following year they had a son, Hans-Albert.
The brilliant physicist was working as a patent clerk six days a week at that time . Only on Sundays could he do his own research. In 1905, he published three scientific articles in which he made his revolutionary findings on the theory of relativity, the theory of the photoelectric effect, and the theory of Brownian motion. His wife accompanied him to his work, diligently checking his calculations.
The diploma confirming the award of the Nobel Prize to Einstein was issued with the date 1922, although in fact he received it in 1921. The monetary part of the award went to Mileva's account. Could it be as compensation for her contribution to the discovery of special relativity? (public domain).
The idyll did not last long, however. The scientific fame Einstein gained from his breakthrough publications went hand in hand with a cooling relationship with his wife. Soon he completely moved away from her. Their marriage broke up completely in 1919. Nevertheless, at the divorce hearing, Albert promised that if he was awarded the Nobel Prize for which he had been nominated for several years, he would give his ex-wife the entire financial part of the prize. And he kept his word! Mileva did not have to wait long:Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize two years after their divorce.
Who is the real author of the theory of relativity?
The suggestion that Mileva Marić might have co-authored Einstein's articles on special relativity appeared in the late 1980s. It was first proposed by the American physicist Evan Walker Harris. His text on this subject caused a great stir among the physicists, dividing researchers into supporters and opponents of the thesis about the genius "Mrs. Einstein" hidden in the shadow of her famous husband.
Those who believed in Mileva's contribution to the development of the new theory argued that in his letters to her at the beginning of his acquaintance, Einstein mentioned "their work" and "their theory." So he treated them as something in common. It was recalled that used to say that in their home their wife deals with mathematics . We also know that Mileva was a great mathematician and apparently she was the one who performed calculations for various Albert's concepts. Why would it not also help with those that later made up the special theory of relativity?
To confirm the co-authorship, a fragment of Albert's letter to Mileva from 1901 is also cited: How happy and proud I will be when we bring our joint work on relative motion to a winning conclusion. Mileva, in turn, told her father in 1905: Before we left, we completed an important scientific work that will bring fame to my husband.
Mileva's biographer, prof. Radmila Milentijević, argued that perhaps both spouses decided to publish the results of their joint research only under the name of Albert. They wanted to rank them higher in this way, to increase Einstein's chances for a good job and a career in science. The text, which was also signed by the woman, may not have been taken seriously!
The "two names" theory
The information provided in 1955 by the Soviet scientist Abraham F. Joffe seems to confirm the co-authorship of early works. After Einstein's death, Joffe published an article in which he described the correspondence with the brilliant physicist at the beginning of their scientific career. Joffe then asked Einstein to send in copies of several of his as yet unprinted articles. The submitted texts were signed not with one but two names:Einstein-Marity .
A kind and cheerful old man with hair in all directions, who says things that are brilliant in his simplicity. We remember this Einstein. But is this really his equation? A painting by Iranian artist Javad Alizadeh entitled "Amazing Formula" (license CC BY-SA 3.0).
The surname "Marita" is the Hungarian form of "Marić". The change in the record was due to the fact that Vojvodina, where Mileva was born, was administratively part of Hungary and the Serbs living in this area were subject to Magyarization. So it looks like if you believe Joffe's story that the early work of the Nobel Prize winner was signed with the names of ... his and his wife, Mileva Marić!
This thread was picked up by the Soviet writer and popularizer of science, Daniel Danin. He concluded that Albert and Mileva also jointly produced three key articles for special relativity published in 1905. However, Mileva's name was for some reason removed before final publication.
Einstein - unconvincing witness?
If these allegations are true, Einstein's reluctance to acknowledge Mileva's contribution to the theory of relativity is simply a fact of intellectual deception Harris said firmly. His shocking findings caused a sensation at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in New Orleans in 1990.
According to Harris, suspicions about Mileva's significant role were so strong for one more reason. Einstein reportedly could not convincingly explain how he came to his theory of relativity . And it was not the only such case in his research activities.
Money for the idea
Harris even suggested that Einstein might… steal the scientific ideas of his gifted wife! The agreement between the divorcing spouses, on the basis of which all the money from the expected Nobel Prize was to be given to Mileva, was a natural "reward" for her contribution to the development of the theory of relativity.
A supporter of this unusual theory is Marie Benedict, who in her novel "Mrs. Einstein" puts the following words into Mileva's mouth:
At first, Albert refused to give me the proceeds of the future prize - which he could have received for each of our 1905 articles - but I insisted. Since he had removed my name from these texts, thus depriving me of a chance for the proper honor, at least I was entitled to money.
The man who robbed his wife of her life happiness and scientific achievements? Lithograph of Albert Einstein in 1925, made by Max Liebermann (public domain).
Did Mileva really feel hurt by Einstein? Unfortunately, she never spoke about her contribution to the scientific discovery of the theory of relativity. Nevertheless, the rumor that it was Einstein himself, not wanting the truth to come out, forbade his ex-wife to write an autobiography, gives food for thought. It was only in one of the letters she wrote towards the end of her life that she stated that she was husband robbed her of her life happiness, academic achievements and financial security in her old age .
Or maybe not?
Not everyone is convinced by the theory of the genius Einstein. Its opponents point out that, apart from the two quoted above statements by Einstein (on mathematics) and Mileva (to her father), there are no other hard commanders to complicate Marić in Einstein's discoveries. There are no documents, calculations, reports. Against her, the fact that, despite her efforts, she did not complete her studies. Moreover, although the letters written to her by Albert are indeed full of physical theories and ideas, these topics are completely absent from her responses!
An explanation has also been proposed for the double surname, Einstein-Marita (or Einstein-Marić), appearing under the 1905 texts mentioned by Joffe. They are simply translated ... in some countries the custom of adding the wife's maiden name to the husband's surname.
Bibliography
- Marie Benedict, Mrs. Einstein , Horizon 2017 sign.
- Denis Brian, Einstein, Ed. Amber 1997.
- Did Einstein's First Wife Secretly Coauthor His 1905 Relativity Paper? , (accessed on December 30, 2016).
- Magdalena Herman-Milenkovska, Wife, Einstein's secret. Why do so few people know that she was a great physicist? , (accessed on December 30, 2016).
- Walter Isaacson, Einstein. His life, his universe, Ed. W.A.B. 2013.
- Dennis Overbye, Einstein in love. Living with Mileva, PWN 2014.
- Andrzej K. Wróblewski, History of physics , PWN 2007.