Mileva Marić’s life, like that of many other women of the time, passed in the shadows. He met Albert Einstein at the Zurich Polytechnic Institute, which he agreed to after passing tough exams. The relationship between the two scientists was more than loving, since a strong intellectual bond was established between them : Mileva entered Einstein’s life at a crucial period in his career and he admired his wife’s intellectual ambitions.
However, Mileva became pregnant before marrying Einstein, a fact that made her gradually withdraw from academic life to dedicate herself to housework and support her husband’s research work . However, there are many voices that demand Mileva’s active participation in Einstein’s great contributions to science. Among the arguments it is pointed out, for example, that the physicist gave part of the Nobel Prize benefits to his wife, and that in the correspondence they maintained between the two they always spoke of “our” theory and “our” work .
The truth is that Mileva Marić never claimed co-authorship of her husband’s successes , she did not publish anything on her own after separating from Einstein and her participation as “mother” of the Theory of Relativity lacks strong evidence. Historians, in general, agree that Mileva simply withdrew from the academic world to dedicate herself to her husband – who should not treat him exactly well, and from whom she separated in 1919 – and her children. Her story would be similar to that of so many other talented women born in a time when science was reserved for men. One can only wonder, then, what would have happened if this love story between scientists had developed in the 21st century.
