The Other Einstein

by Marie Benedict

Because in my honest moments, I found the work of caring for Albert and our home mind-numbing.

Even though Mileva bristled at historical women’s tasks for much of her early adulthood, once circumstances relegated her to the domestic sphere, she only allowed herself to admit her disdain for traditional women’s work in the privacy of her own thoughts. So much depended on her maintaining a pleasant home life with Albert—she couldn’t practice science except through him, after all—that I imagined she couldn’t really allow herself to dwell on how much she loathed the work of cleaning and cooking and mending and tending. Because, if she did, I think she might have exploded at the unfairness of her situation and the selfishness of Albert’s actions, and she would have lost not only her ability to bring Lieserl into a legitimate family home but also her only hope at working as a scientist—with Albert. Wouldn’t you have been burning to rage at Albert in Mileva’s situation? Would you have been able to keep that anger buried within you for as long as Mileva did?