Einstein's Daughter: The Search for Lieserl

by Michele Zackheim

In 1902 an illegitimate daughter was born to Albert Einstein. In '03 she vanished. The '86 discovery of early love letters between Einstein & Mileva Maric, the woman who'd become his 1st wife, revealed the birth of a girl named Lieserl. After an '03 letter, there's no more mention of her. With nearly nine decades between the birth & our knowledge of it, with scant clues as to the course of her life, the fate of Lieserl Maric Einstein remained a mystery. In many respects, the story of Lieserl is inextricably linked to that of her mother, Mileva Maric, whose own story, as the author came to learn, was guarded for generations by her extended Serbian family, whose confidence Zackheim had to earn before they would part with family secrets. After five years of travel to Serbian villages wracked by years of strife, painstaking forays into the labyrinth of Central European record-keeping & hundreds of kitchen-table conversations; after following every lead, every flicker of intuition, & with the support of an international network of women, Zackheim has uncovered what became of Lieserl. Bound to be controversial, Einstein's Daughter is more than the story of its conclusion; it's a story of the century--of fame & obscurity, love & betrayal, pretenders & protectors; of legends, lies, promises & unbearable truths.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Science, Biography Memoir

319 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

For many years I was a visual artist exhibiting in museum and galleries, both in the united States and Europe. Over time, random words began to appear on my canvases . . . then poems . . . then elaborate fragments of narratives. I began to think more about writing and less about the visual world. Finally, I simply wrote myself off the canvas and onto the lavender quadrille pages of a bright orange notebook. This, my first book, was Violette's Embrace, published by Riverhead/Penguin.

Reviews

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prvo sam sasvim slučajno otkrila ovu knjigu na policama u knjižnici. Drugo, nisam ni znala da je Albert imao ženu iz Vojvodine. Treće, koliko je bio ''lud'' i grub nisam mogla da vjerujem i to ne samo prema prvoj ženi, nego i drugoj koja mu je bila bliža rodica. Naravno otuđio se i od svojih sinova. Za postojanje vanbračne kćerke Alberta i Mileve Ajnštajn, po imenu Lizerl, saznalo se tek krajem osamdesetih godina prošlog stoljeća po objavljivanju njihovih ljubavnih pisama sačuvanih u arhivama Ajnštajnovih dokumenata, povjerenih na čuvanje Hebrejskom univerzitetu u Jeruzalemu. Ova knjiga otkriva mnogo toga o društvenim prilikama i običajima koji su vladali početkom dvadesetog stoljeća u zemljama Srednje Evrope ali i najzanimljivije o međusobnim odnosima i bračnom životu Mileve i Alberta.
Koliko je malo godina potrebno da te jedan čovjek uništi psihički, fizički i da ti obilježi život zauvijek.

[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know next to nothing about Albert Einstein. So, after reading Marie Benedict's historical novel, THE OTHER EINSTEIN, I thought it might be a good idea to try some of the nonfiction Benedict used when doing her research. That's what led me to this book.

The catalog of the National Library Service of the Blind and Physically Handicapped does a nice job of summarizing this without giving too much away:

"Based on the 1980s revelation that Albert Einstein and his Serbian first wife, Mileva, had an illegitimate daughter, Lieserl, born in 1902, the author spent five years tracking down clues to determine what became of Lieserl. Zackheim presents her findings and conclusion."

This is an intriguing work, although I must say that I found Zackheim's conclusions extremely disturbing. It's also pretty clear to me that, while there is no question that Albert Einstein was a brilliant man, I don't think I would have liked him at all.

This was probably not the best book for me to choose simply because I wasn't all that interested in the topic. I found that I was actually more drawn to the passages in which the author recounts her research adventures
Than to the findings themselves. With that said, this makes for thought provoking reading indeed.

Now, I'm off to read one more book about Mr. Einstein.



Don

[Caety · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading how this author researched and collected information over 5 years and also gave the history of the time period in Serbia and Germany, which was needed to give substance to the why's of how a child could be ignored, hidden and never talked about. I respect Albert Einstein for his genius in what he has done for the world, but I don't believe I would have liked him for the way he treated his wives, children, family or friends.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I learned from this book is that Albert Einstein was a chauvinistic bastard.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story here is in the search. Who was she and how long did she live were facts erased by Lieserl's extended family. The most important idea here is the relationship between Einstein and Mileva Maric, who married (finally after Liserl was born) and had two more children, boys. There are many questions surrounding the husband and wife and their subsequent lives. The bottom line for me is that DNA is most important in deciding character and health, and Einstein may have been bright, but he was not a nice person. Very interesting story, and no final answers.

[Janice · Rating 4 out of 5]

The societal influences that impact our lives each were very clearly highlighted and gave an interesting perspective not often considered. The impact on the life of Albert Einstein of these social norms was no less than those we each face on a daily basis. The lengths that some will go to in order to follow such unwritten policies is often unbelievable as in the case of this young child.

[Joyce Haivala · Rating 2 out of 5]

I learned about Einstein, his first wife, the culture and history of Serbia and its people. I learned nothing about Liserl except she was a mystery. I did learn the details of the authors extensive search for he truth
Not a total waste of time

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was very well researched and held my attention all the way through. We learn about what a hard life Mileva had and what a jerk Einstein really was. It sounds like he had some mental illness similar to other family members. Lieserl was very well hidden as her birth shamed the entire family for generations. it is known she had scarlet fever and assumed she died as there is no other evidence otherwise.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd been wanting to read a book about this topic for a while now and this one really delivered. There's definitely conjecture, but with the subject matter there is no real way to draw a conclusion without it. A pretty easy read too, which is a bonus for me since most of my reading is during down time at work.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reads more like a dissertation.

[Kristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

What an interesting book. I had heard about the Einsteins's mysterious daughter in a radio podcast, and picked up this book at used bookstore. Women spent 5 years research and talking to people. I was half expecting it to end with a bunch of dead ends and I don't know what happened. But Im pleased to say she was thorough in her research and had backed up conclusions to wrap up the story. I will say it was also neat to read about Mileva and Albert - and certainly not making me a fan of the womanizer he seems to have been.

[Taylor]

Ok so over a hundred years ago in a strict religious part of the world, where women were treated badly, a guy and girl fell in love had a love child. Their parents wouldn't allow them to marry and kept the child hidden. The child got sick and died, and now there is no record of what happened to her. Its not a unheard of thing happening the only reason it's a book is that it was Albert Einstein.

It proves that he was a human that lived in his time. It's easy to look backwards and see someone as a monster. When that was just how things were.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting search for the illegitimate daughter of Albert Einstein and his first wife Mileva. The research reveals who Albert Einstein was personally (I grew to dislike him very much!) and who is first wife was. It was also a revealing look at the social norms of the time in Serbia for women. An interesting read if you can get past the listing of dates and places. Ultimately, the author concludes that the child was born with a mental defect (possibly Downs Syndrome) and died in 1903 of scarlet fever.

[Suzanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book's subject was fascinating. As someone else has mentioned, by the time you finish reading the book, you end up thinking Albert Einstein was not a great husband. At the same time, from reading the book, I learned a lot about Serbian culture as well. As some other reviews pointed out, the author thoroughly researched her subject, but the ending was anticlimactic.

[Tricia Rawnsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very complete account of Einstein's early life and a very incomplete account, based on circumstantial evidence, of his daughter with his first wife. I didn't like Einstein much after reading this!

[Matt Kuhns · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting book, but, I feel that I ought to warn anyone:

If you're fond of Albert Einstein the legend, don't read this book. Or any book about Einstein's personal life.

You'll be happier remaining in ignorance of many things therein.

[Hanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book gives insight into the personal lives and messes of a legend as well as the difficulty in reconstructing the lives of those that lived in Europe in the first half of the 20th century.

[ShareStories · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lot of background detail about a lot of people and very little "pay off" at the end, made for a frustrating book. A bit anticlimactic to read.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting search.. disappointing result .. but hauntingly accurate for the era

[BeckerSuz]

What Victoria said.

[A · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was sad to read about Einstein's personal life and those that suffered from his lack of care. I didn't get very far, due to the subject matter.

The writing was well-done and well-researched.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting account of Einstein's early life with his first wife.

[Karen]

http://michelezackheim.com/einsteins-...