Who Is Einstein?

Albert Einstein was born as the first child of the couple Hermann and Pauline Einstein in Ulm, Germany on March 14, 1879. In November 1881 Albert’s sister Maria – called Maja – was born. A short time later the Einstein family went to Munich where Albert first attended elementary school and then Luitpold Grammar School. He was an ‘average’ student but already very interested in science and mathematics. He did not like lessons in grammar school because the teachers were strict and he was forced to learn. When he turned 15, he left school without any degree. He attended school in Aarau, Switzerland from 1895 to 1896 when he took his A-levels and began to study hard in Zurich. He successfully finished his studies in July 1900. He moved to Bern and started working at the Patent Office. In his leisure time he worked in the area of theoretical physics. In 1905, he published several of his important scientific works. One of them deals with the special theory of relativity. Another work contains the most famous formula of the world, ‘E = mc2’. In 1909, he was appointed professor of theoretical physics at the University of Zurich. Einstein became a full professor at the German Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague and then he returned to Zurich. In 1914 Einstein was invited to Berlin to work there. From 1909 to 1916, Albert Einstein worked on the general theory of relativity. In 1919, soon after an experiment proved that the theory was right, Einstein became famous. He received invitations and honours from all over the world. There was hardly any magazine which did not report about him and praise his work to the skies. For the year 1921 he received the Nobel Prize for Physics. Because of the political situation in Germany, Einstein left the country in December 1932 and never again entered German ground. From 1933 Einstein and his family lived in Princeton, USA. He found ideal working conditions at the ‘Institute for Advanced Study’. In December 1936, Einstein’s wife Elsa died. Albert Einstein was 76 years old when he died on April 18, 1955.