Letters to Conrad Habicht

Albert Einstein

1905

Bern, Thursday [18 or 25 May 1905]

Dear Habicht,

Such a solemn air of silence has descended between us that I almost feel as if I am committing a sacrilege when I break it now with some inconsequential babble. But is this not always the fate of the exalted ones of this world?

So, what are you up to, you frozen whale, you smoked, dried, canned piece of…

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Einstein wrote these letters to his friend Conrad Habicht (1876–1958), a Swiss mathematician living in Bern. He, Einstein, and Maurice Solovine were the core members of the informal Olympia Academy.

Creator Bio

Albert Einstein

1879–1955

Winner of the Nobel Prize in physics in 1921, Albert Einstein was the most renowned scientist of the twentieth century. He was recruited to the Zionist movement in 1921 by Chaim Weizmann. As the political climate in Europe deteriorated in the interwar years, Einstein increasingly devoted time to the fight against fascism, the refugee problem, and the Zionist cause. In 1952, he was offered, but declined, the presidency of the State of Israel.

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