Relatively speaking

Mileva Einstein- was she another woman whose genius is buried by misogyny or a whiny ex-wife who collected all the Nobel Prize money in a divorce settlement? Was the woman who married Albert Einstein the real brains in the family or just a sounding board for her husband’s ideas?
Mileva was fifteen when her father sought out special permission for her to attend an all male prep school where she earned the highest grades in math and physics. In 1896, she was the fifth woman ever to be accepted to a prestigious university, Zurich Polytechnic. I know what you’re thinking- of all the women in Europe, only five were smart enough to be accepted at Zurich Polytechnic? What a bunch of dummies.
Mileva wasn’t quite as smart as she thought she was because after getting mixed up with Albert, she didn’t do very well academically. And by that I mean, she got pregnant. Eventually they married in 1903, but Albert turned out to be a bit of a tyrant. They divorced in 1919.
Mileva received all of the Nobel prize money, - good for her!-but she was on her own raising Albert’s two sons. The daughter, born before they were married, vanished from history. Most information about Mileva was destroyed during Albert’s lifetime. In a collection of Albert’s letters, he repeatedly uses pronouns such as ‘your’ (Mileva), ‘our’ work when referring to the famous theories.
Keepers of Albert Einstein’s flame are quick to discredit any information that Mileva contributed anything at all to Albert’s 1905 papers. (But then, one of my college professors referred to Madam Curie as her husband’s secretary- so don’t leave sexual bias behind just because someone has a position of authority.) I don’t know if Mileva deserves more credit than she got. History shows that any man who worked this closely with Albert got extensive note and adulation. Two of the men who chatted often with Albert are referred to as the ‘Olympic Academy.’
Mileva Einstein-Maric was mostly erased from history. She was crippled from a congenital birth defect, and not a Jew like Albert. Did he marry her for love or for her brains?
Nancy Sherer