BIOGRAPHIES 383 1870-1872, worked for firm in Budapest, then for Hungarian Railroad Ad- ministration. 1872-1877, worked at Bern factory for railroad materials, then for company constructing the Jura railroad. 1877-1888, worked at Swiss Federal Topography Office. 1878, married Susanna Ackermann, with whom he had two children. 1888-1921, first director of Swiss Patent Office. 1901, promised job to Einstein on recommendation of Marcel Grossmann's father. 1902, hired Einstein as technical expert (provisional), 3rd class. September 1904, granted Einstein permanent status. March 1906, advanced Einstein to technical expert, 2nd class. July 1909, accepted Einstein's resignation. Einstein extolled his outstanding character and competence. Sources: Aargau Lexikon 1958, pp. 301-302 Patent Office files, Sz-Ar. Kaufler, Helene See Savic, Helene. Kleiner, Alfred b. 29 April 1849 in Maschwanden, canton of Zurich d. 3 July 1916 in Zurich Advisor and colleague of Einstein. Son of a landholding farmer. Attended secondary school in Zurich. 1868-1872, studied medicine at University of Berlin and Zurich and received the Diplom. 1873, Assistent in physics at ETH. 1874, University of Zurich doctoral dissertation, "Zur Theorie der inter- mittierenden Netzhautreizung," under the supervision of J. J. Müller. 1875, Habilitation at University of Zurich and ETH Privatdozent, held lectures at University of Zurich. 1879, married Karolina Fröhlich, with whom he had six children. 1879-1885, Extraordinary Professor of Physics at University of Zurich. 1885-1916, professor and director of the Physics Institute developed new measurement instruments, in particular, new types of galvanometers and quadrant electrometers conducted research on dielectrics, and was par- ticularly interested in the use of capacitors for measurement purposes as director, brought many outstanding physicists to Zurich. 1901, supervised Einstein's first attempt to obtain a doctorate. 1905, supervised Einstein's dissertation, Einstein 1905b. 1908-1909, was instrumental in Einstein's call to University of Zurich. Source: Mitteilungen 1916 University of Zurich personnel file, SzZSa.