The little-known story of the brilliant Einstein woman who contributed to the theory of relativity

"Too intellectual". "An old witch." These are some of the comments that the family of Albert Einstein dedicated to the first wife of the scientist, Mileva Einstein

but the relationship has not always been so thorny. Before the divorce in 1916, they were both students at the Polytechnic Institute of Zurich, one of the few universities in Europe to welcome women at the time. There, they shared their love of science.

Mileva's qualifications leave no doubt about the fact that he was a brilliant physicist and scientist, with sometimes higher marks than Albert's. And yet, he has not pbaded the last stages of his career.

Letters also reveal that around 1900, when they were not yet married, Mileva became pregnant. There is no trace of the couple's first daughter, but it is thought she died of scarlet fever, an infectious disease.

Several biographies indicate that the student period marked the beginning of many years of collaboration, for which Mileva was little recognized, and that the education of her children with Albert distinguished her from the first stage of science.

Always together

The 43 preserved letters mention "our works" and "our theory of relative movement", "our point of view" or "our articles".

"During the school holidays, often dead, they exchanged several letters in which Albert was constantly referring to his collaboration," says Pauline Gagnon, principal physicist at Nuclear Research (better known under the acronym Cern).

There are still many reports that the two came to work together.

"Including his son, Hans Albert, he remembers seeing them working together day and night at the kitchen table."

It was in 1905, when Albert published his most important works: four articles in the Annalen der Physik (Annals of Physics) that changed their understanding of the laws of physics for always, including their theory of relativity.

A woman in the shadows

When they divorced, they agreed that if Albert won the Nobel Prize, Mileva would receive the cash prize.

He received the Physics Award in 1921, when he was separated from the first woman two years ago and that he was married again.