7 0 4 D O C . 4 5 5 T R A V E L D I A R Y [70]Einstein arrived in Montevideo on board the SS Ciudad de Buenos Aires, which belonged to the Compañia Argentina de Navegación. He was greeted by, among others, Américo Sampognaro, on behalf of the president of the Republic Agustín Musso, on behalf of the university president and Car- los M. Maggiolo (1881–1935), dean of the College of Engineering. A delegation from the local Jew- ish community and students also welcomed him (El Día, 24 April 1925). The city of Montevideo offered to put Einstein up at the Parque Hotel, yet he had already made arrangements to stay with the family of Naum Rossenblatt, a Russian-Jewish chemist. He was driven to the residence of the Ros- senblatt family at Avenida 18 de Julio, the most important thoroughfare in Montevideo, accompanied by Maggiolo. The German ambassador was Arthur Schmidt-Elskop (1875–1952). Einstein and Ros- senblatt went for a stroll on the Avenida de 18 Julio, where they happened to meet Carlos Vaz Ferreira (1872–1958), Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of the Republic, with whom they arranged to meet later that day at Rossenblatt’s home. “Ras. Fereider” is most likely an erroneous ref- erence to Vaz Ferreira. Einstein was also visited by Teófilo D. Piñeyro, a representative of the Ateneo de Montevideo, a prestigious cultural institution. The heads of the Center for Engineering and Land Surveying Students and the Uruguayan Poly- technic Association recommended that their members welcome Einstein at the port. Authorities at the College of Engineering permitted their faculty and students to be absent from classes for this occasion (see La Prensa and La Mañana, 24 April 1925 El Día, 25 April 1925 and Ortiz and Otero 2001, pp. 1–2). [71]Esther Rossenblatt-Filevich. José (1896–1953), Octavio, and Gregorio Rossenblatt. José was the first Jewish doctor to graduate from the University of Buenos Aires. [72]Amadeo Geille Castro (1890–?) was Assistant Professor of Rational Mechanics at the Univer- sity of the Republic in Montevideo. The College of Engineering had designated Geille Castro to serve as Einstein’s personal secretary during his visit. He was assisted in this task by students Ricardo Müller and Ezequiel Sánchez González (see Ortiz and Otero 2001, p. 6). Amadeo Felix Geille. [73]In the morning of 25 April, Einstein briefly met with a delegation from the local Jewish com- munity. He then left on a tour of the city by car in the company of Geille Castro, Müller, and Sánchez González, which included a public school housed in the Castro country villa. The first lecture was delivered in French in the overcrowded Public Assembly Hall of the Univer- sity of the Republic at 5:30 P.M. The audience numbered approximately 2,000 people and was mainly comprised of professors and students. The lecture series was entitled “General Foundations of the Theory of Relativity.” Einstein was introduced by the rector of the university, Elías Regules. The en- gineer Federico García Martínez gave an outline on the theory of relativity. In his lecture, Einstein presented a critique of Newtonian mechanics, dealt with the experiments of Foucault and of Michel- son and Morley, outlined the path from special to general relativity, discussed the finiteness of space and of four-dimensional space, the curvature of light rays, and the relativity of time. The reception at the university was hosted by Rector Regules and attended by numerous professors and students (El País, 23 April 1925 La Prensa, 24 April 1925 El Día, 24 and 25 April 1925 La Tribuna Popular, 26 April 1925 and La Razón, 27 April 1925). [74]On 26 April, Einstein held a press conference for three journalists at the Rossenblatt residence, where he elaborated on his literary and musical preferences, his impressions of Montevideo, and the intellectual atmosphere and the state of scientific research in Buenos Aires and Montevideo (see El País, 27 April 1925). Montevideo did not have a mayor in 1925, as municipalities had been abolished by the Uruguayan Constitution of 1918. Einstein was referring to the president of the Administrative Council of Montevideo, Luis P. Ponce (1877–1928). Lohengrin was performed at the Teatro Solís (see El Día, 26 April 1925). [75]The origins of the modern welfare state in Uruguay were established during the period 1904– 1916, especially during the presidencies of José Batlle y Ordónez. The liberal Colorado Party, which was also in power at the time of Einstein’s visit, had introduced progressive social legislation. The separation of church and state had been introduced in 1919 with the new Uruguayan constitution (see Segura-Ubiergo 2007, p. 58, and Lynch 2012, p. 198). [76]The president of the senate was Juan Antonio Buero (1888/9?–?). The marble factory was the