EINSTEIN'S DAUGHTER

A disappointing account of the illegitimate child conceived by Albert Einstein and his first wife, Mileva Mari—, a daughter who disappeared from all records until the publication of her parents’ early love letters in 1986. In 1902, Mari—, not yet married to Einstein, gave birth to a daughter behind closed doors at her parents’ home in the Vojvodina (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire). By the following year, all traces of the child had disappeared. Zackheim (Violette’s Embrace, 1996) set out to solve the mystery of Einstein’s “lost” daughter. In her view, the child, named Lieserl, was born with severe mental handicaps. For this reason, Mari— decided to leave the child with her parents rather then return with her to Bern. When Lieserl died of scarlet fever less than two years after her birth, the family covered up all traces of her existence and kept secret this painful chapter in their history. Zackheim has clearly poured herself into this project. She has searched archives, read books and articles, interviewed relatives and friends of Einstein and Mari——plus potential surviving Lieserls—and spent several years in Serbia in search of the lost child. The question she leaves unanswered is: Why should anyone share the author’s obvious passion for this mystery? What does it reveal to us that is new or noteworthy about Einstein or Mari—? If Zackheim has not succeeded in persuading her audience of the importance of her topic in the broader scope of Einstein scholarship, it is because her book imprudently tells more about Mileva Mari— than her husband. In addition, Zackheim has delved so deeply into Serbian folklore, customs, and traditions that she foists them on her subject. Readers do not benefit from Serbian sayings and words that repeatedly appear in mid-sentence in both Serbian and English. Nor does Zackheim present convincing evidence that Mari— herself was closely bound to the Serbian customs she so lovingly details. In this misguided account of the child’s story, Zackheim, playing sleuth, dwells on the details but leaves a void at the heart of the drama.