in Serbian

Frau Einstein is a feature length screenplay about Mileva Marić, first wife of Albert Einstein.

In Serbia, Mileva is written about only in superlatives. In the world where the narrative of Albert’s life and work has reached almost mythical proportions, she is considered “the shadowy figure in black, holding him back”. The truth is, probably, somewhere in between.

But, the following facts stand. And they are ones that intrigued me to write Frau Einstein.

1. Albert and Mileva had an out-of-wedlock baby daughter whose faith remains a mystery to this day. This means they had pre-marital sex in 1901, in an era considered to be much more conservative that today is. It also means that Mileva, a good girl from a traditional small town family from Titel, willingly engaged in sex. With her boyfriend. In 1901.
2. Mileva was the first female student enrolled in Zagreb’s lyceum. She was the only female in her class at ETH where she met Albert. Even if you argued that she got in because of political correctness (which I don’t think is the case), Mileva was obviously smart and hard-working enough to get to the doctoral degree level – meaning, she had, at one time, had the brains to be the equal of Albert and his colleagues.
3. They were married in 1905, the year during which he wrote some of his most brilliant and well-known work. Is it possible that she, despite the fact they lived together and had considered themselves intellectual equals (according to their love letters), had absolutely nothing to do with his work?
4. The connection between schizophrenia and mathematical genius is well known (see: John Nash aka Beautiful Mind). Mileva’s sister was a schizophrenic and, aside from the hip displesia, Mileva had suffered a ‘nervous breakdown’ in her later years. Her son with Albert, Eduard-Tete, was also a schizophrenic to whose care she dedicated her post-divorce life. So, in her case, is there a connection between these two things?
5. In pre-World War One era, in Switzerland and Germany where Mileva and Albert had lived, Serbs were considered second class citizens. I think it was a consequence of European politics, played out in everyday life. Has that, among other things, influenced Mileva to give up her intellectual work and focus solely on her family? After their divorce, she earned money by tutoring students in math.
6. Albert’s true personality, free of the restrains of being a pop icon. Yes, he was brilliant. But he was also selfish, egocentric, loving his increasing popularity and very social. There are reports that his dominance in their relationship has crossed the line into abuse. Is this true or not? How has this affected Mileva and her true self?
7. Russian scientist Jaffe said once that he saw a cover page of one of Albert’s works signed with Marity-Einstein. While it was the social norm of the time for a husband to add his wife’s surname, was this the case of following a social norm or something more? And where is this page now?

All this and so much more intrigued me into researching the topic deeper. The result, my perspective of the truth is Frau Einstein.