Finding a room for the dying Pauline Einstein, and trying to recover 'a calm head for work'.

Einstein's terminally ill mother has moved to stay with him in Berlin, to the great consternation of the landlord: 'Mama's care is causing a lot of difficulty and excitement; the landlord is resisting tooth and nail against the idea that we might have a room in our building outside our flat'; but it is impractical and unaffordable to place her in a sanatorium. 'Apparently the only remaining possibility is to place Mama with the nurse in my study. I am trying to rent another study for myself in the building'. Naturally it will not be as peaceful as the sanatorium in Lucerne where their mother previously stayed; and unfortunately all these arrangements have taken up a great deal of time and money. On top of this, he is trying to move his first wife Mileva and their sons to southern Germany (to avoid a cripplingly unfavourable currency exchange rate), and with the devaluation of his savings and the shortage of accommodation, this is also exceedingly difficult. 'Hopefully all the difficulties can be overcome in the end, so that I can again recover a calm head for work!'. The opening of the letter discusses the payment of Einstein's dividends from the Schweizerische Auer-Aktien-Gesellschaft, which were adminstered by Paul Winteler. The appended message from Elsa Einstein enlarges on the difficulties with their flat.

Pauline Einstein, who was suffering from cancer, had spent much of the previous year in a sanatorium near Lucerne. She was to die in Berlin on 20 February 1920, three months after moving to join her son. Although Einstein's letter refers only to family concerns, November 1919 marked a turning-point in his life. His status as a private individual had been changed forever by the announcement three days previously of the successful experimental demonstration of general relativity by the Eddington eclipse expedition: this was front-page news around the world, and Einstein became the first scientist to be a global celebrity.




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