V O L U M E 8 , D O C U M E N T 4 7 1 a 1 4 3
ALS. [144 363]. There are perforations for a loose-leaf binder at the left margin of the document.
[1]Einstein to Mileva Einstein-Maric; , 31 January 1918 (Vol. 8, Doc. 449).
[2]Einstein had first sought formally to divorce his wife on 6 February 1916 (see Einstein to Mileva
Einstein-Maric; , 6 February 1916 [Vol. 8, Doc. 187]).
[3]Einstein-Maric; became bedridden ca. 3 July 1916, complaining of severe heart problems (see
Einstein to Michele Besso, 14 July 1916 [Vol. 8, Doc. 233], note 1).
[4]Persuaded of the gravity of Mileva’s condition, Einstein had, in September 1916, promised
Michele Besso to stop pressuring her for a divorce (see Einstein to Michele Besso, 6 September 1916
[Vol. 8, Doc. 254]).
[5]Mileva had first been diagnosed with brain tuberculosis (see Einstein to Michele Besso, 24
August 1916 [Vol. 8, Doc. 251]) and had been hospitalized at the sanatorium Theodosianum until late
October 1916 once her condition had improved (see Einstein to Hans Albert Einstein, after 31 Octo-
ber 1916 [Vol. 8, Doc. 271], note 2). In mid-November, her health deteriorated again (see Michele
Besso to Einstein, 5 December 1916 [Vol. 8, Doc. 283], note 1), and she remained bedridden. In April
1917, Mileva had been hospitalized at the Bethanienheim hospital in Zurich due to chronic nerve pres-
sure on the spine (see Michele Besso to Einstein, 4 May 1917 [Vol. 8, Doc. 333], note 2).
[6]Hans Albert had already protested his father’s complaint that Eduard was being “mollycoddled
for so long up there” (“ihn da oben so lange zu verpimpeln”) in Arosa (see Einstein to Hans Albert
Einstein, 25 January 1918 [Vol. 8, Doc. 442] and Vol. 8, Doc. 442a, in the present volume).
[7]Presumably a reference to Einstein’s accusation that his “friends in Zurich” (“meine Freunde in
Zürich,” among them Zangger) had been “unscrupulous” (“gewissenlos”) in spending money on Edu-
ard’s treatment (see Einstein to Hans Albert Einstein, 25 January 1918 [Vol. 8, Doc. 442]).
[8]By 1918, the cost of living index in Switzerland had risen 229% since the beginning of the war
(see Fueter 1928, p. 262).
[9]Max Löwenthal (1864–1914), from whom Elsa Einstein was divorced in 1908 (see Einstein to
Elsa Löwenthal, 27 December 1913–4 January 1914 [Vol. 5, Doc. 498], note 3).
[10]Mileva had received a dowry of 10,000 francs fifteen years earlier (see Einstein to Michele
Besso, before 28 June 1918 [Vol. 8, Doc. 572]).
[11]Abdominal problems had set in eleven months earlier (see Einstein to Michele Besso, 9 March
1917 [Vol. 8, Doc. 306]).
[12]Elsa Einstein.
[13]Einstein had promised that Mileva would, in case of divorce, not have to forfeit her widow’s
pension (see Einstein to Mileva Einstein-Maric; , 31 January 1918 [Vol. 8, Doc. 449]).
[14]Einstein had threatened to cap his annual payments to her at 6,000 marks (see Einstein to
Mileva Einstein-Maric; , 31 January 1918 [Vol. 8, Doc. 449]). He had previously cited the amount of
6,000 francs (see Einstein to Michele Besso, 5 January 1918 [Vol. 8, Doc. 428]).
Vol. 8, 471a. To Heinrich Zangger
[Berlin, 27 February 1918]
Lieber Freund Zangger!
Endlos ist die Kette der Krankheiten, die unsere Familien
heimsuchen.[1]
Wie
sich nur Ihre Kleine die schwere Krankheit im Engadin geholt haben
mag?[2]
Ich
hoffe aber zuversichtlich, dass es schon besser ist, weil Sie wieder in Zürich sind.
Die Angelegenheit mit der Schwester meiner Frau ist ein neues
Unglück,[3]
das
mir aber manches erklärlicher macht. Vor einigen Wochen erhielt ich von ihr einen
Brief, der mir viel Kopfzerbrechen machte. Meine Frau hatte mir die Existenz