He is not only famous for physics
Margarita Konenkova did not become famous during her lifetime as Albert Einstein’s lover, if only because she was one of many. The great scientist did not follow traditional family values and managed to change many partners. After marrying Serbian physicist Mileva Maric in 1903, he began to miss the love of his youth, Marie Winteler. Forgetting her, he started a relationship with his cousin Elsa Leventhal in 1912.
When his wife found out about this, she left him with their children and divorced him a few years later. During the divorce, Einstein agreed that if he received the Nobel Prize, he would have to give it to his ex-wife, and in 1921 this condition had to be met. Perhaps it was precisely the sheer cost of divorce that caused Leventhal to become Einstein’s second and last wife, but far from his last partner.
Women were no less interested in the creator of the theory of relativity than in physics and often reciprocated his feelings due to their simple cheerful character and intelligence.
According to published correspondence covering only part of the scientist’s life, Einstein was at least half dozen mistresses – in an era when the norm was to choose a partner in youth and live with him until old age.
Leventhal knew this. She even admitted that her husband took his mistresses directly to their homes and stayed with her until his death. Interestingly, Einstein was never proud of this lifestyle and he was jealous to his friend Michele Besso: “What I admired most was that for many years he managed to live not only in peace but also in complete harmony with his wife – a task in which I shamefully failed twice.”
Einstein was one of the most outstanding physicists of his time, but the boldness of his ideas and the attention of the press turned the scientist into a “pop star”. It got to the point where passersby stopped him on the street and asked him to explain his theory of relativity. For this reason, his biography, including love stories, became the subject of close attention, especially after the death of the scientist and the publication of the documents.
two lonely people
The general public learned about the relationship with Konenkova only in 1998, when correspondence with the scientist was put up for auction in New York. She was the wife of Soviet sculptor Sergei Konenkov, who came with him to New York in 1923. In the mid-1930s, the sculptor received an order from Princeton University to paint portraits of its professors, one of whom was Einstein. While the scientist posed, Margarita sat next to him and listened to his stories about physics. She gradually realized that Einstein’s attention was focused on her and not her husband.
After completing the order, Einstein invited the Konenkovs to visit his house several times, and then began to invite Margarita alone. In 1936, the physicist was widowed, and, according to his friend, psychoanalyst Muriel Gardiner, Sergei increasingly fell into religious frenzy, becoming obsessed with the Bible and the Egyptian pyramids. Charming, cheerful and sociable Margarita did not like it, but she easily got along with Einstein, who was similar in character. A few years later, when Gardiner was asked if Albert and Margarita had an affair, he replied: “I hope so! These were two lonely people.” (Marie Turbow Lampard. The Extraordinary Vision of Sergei Konenkov) .
After three years of secret meetings, Einstein persuaded his doctor friends to write fake certificates about a serious illness for Margarita. He sent these certificates to Konenkov by letter with recommendations to undergo treatment at the Saranac Lake resort, where the scientist liked to visit him. The husband did not suspect anything, and the meetings of the lovers reached a new level.
In 1943, Einstein wrote a poem to Margarita that was a non-poetic line-by-line translation of a poem, part of which went something like this: “You cannot escape the family circle – this is our common misfortune. Our future inevitably and truly looks from the sky. My head is buzzing like a beehive, my heart and hands are weak.
Come to me in Princeton, peace and relaxation await you. We will read Tolstoy, and when you get tired, you will raise your compassionate eyes to me, and I will see the reflection of God in them.
In another letter from 1944, the scientist sketched a “Half Nest”: a cozy little room with a desk, similar to Einstein’s office at home. A title was added to the drawing – Albert wanted to capture the room he associated with Konenkova and the weekend they spent together. In his third letter, he was having a hard time due to the long separation: “I recently washed my hair myself, but I was not very successful. I’m not as careful as you. “Everything here reminds me of you: dictionaries, a wonderful pipe that we thought was missing, in short, the various trinkets that fill my hermit’s shelter, our empty nest.” Margarita also gave him a pipe.
Their romance lasted until September 1945, when Konenkov returned to the USSR. As it became known later – by order of Soviet intelligence.
Woman on a mission
In one of his letters from 1944, Einstein talks about how he invited friends who were prominent scientists to his home for philosophical discussions. Philosopher Bertrand Russell, mathematician Kurt Gödel, and two physicists Wolfgang Pauli and Robert Oppenheimer came to visit. To a modern person, a discussion with such a composition of participants may seem funny, because after the war it became known that Oppenheimer was the head of the team that developed the world’s first atomic bomb. Einstein himself most likely did not know about this during the war, but Soviet intelligence, whose agent was Margarita, was suspected.
There is no reason to believe that the relationship with the scientist was fake for her, but since the personal relations of the Konenkovs are still secret, nothing can be said for sure. It is known that former Soviet intelligence general Pavel Sudoplatov, who later became a historian of special services, called Margarita one of the best agents whose task was to find connections with nuclear scientists. (for example, in the book “Intelligence and the Kremlin: Notes of Unwanted Witnesses”. Historians believe that most of the facts presented here should be treated with skepticism) .
It is unknown whether this mission was completed or not. The Soviet spy on the Anglo-American nuclear project was Klaus Fuchs, Einstein did not work on this project, and Oppenheimer would not have told Margarita about the atomic bomb, even if they managed to meet in private. However, in November 1945 he managed to persuade Einstein to see Soviet Vice-Consul Pavel Mikhailov. He did not try to persuade the creator of the theory of relativity to sell his second (after Germany) homeland, but only offered to encourage scientists to express concern about the political situation in the world and hinted that he would probably visit the USSR.
Although Einstein was a socialist, he disliked Stalin’s totalitarian regime and repeatedly sided with victims of oppression. Therefore, the scientist did not agree to rapprochement with the Soviet state, and the meeting with the vice-consul was not repeated.
Einstein’s correspondence with Margarita continued for some time even after his return to Moscow. In his first letter to Russia, he said goodbye to her and wished her luck. “This is a very difficult task that brings with it big changes for you, but I believe that everything will end well. <…> I think of you very much and wish with all my heart that you enter your new life with joy and courage and that you both successfully complete this long journey. <…> Of course, if you have time, write to me soon. Kiss. Your A. Einstein,” Wrote HE.
It is not known what mission Albert had in mind, but it is possible that he guessed his mistress’s connection to the intelligence services. The full picture of events will be restored only after his personal file is declassified.