Abstract
Einstein’s attractive looks and his stimulating and witty conversation appealed greatly to women. Already in his high school years in Aarau, Marie Winteler, the 16-year old daughter of his teacher and landlord, fell in love with him. She was two years older and thought of herself as his “little, insignificant darling,” who could not compare herself to Albert intellectually. He, on the other hand, gladly exploited her affection; for example, soon after his departure from Aarau to Zürich, he would send her his dirty laundry for her to wash and send back. But the more he settled in at Zürich, the more he gave precedence to study and science, and he broke off the relationship and avoided further visits so as not to lead Marie on.
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Notes
- 1.
An arcane, now rarely used word: a person (implicitly male) who is or is seen as very capable or smart.
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Kleinknecht, K. (2019). Social Affinities. In: Einstein and Heisenberg. Springer Biographies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05264-5_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05264-5_6
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