Gustav Maier. Sponsor of the young Albert Einstein

Document from the year 2023 in the subject Biographies, , language: English, abstract: Albert Einstein is one of the most known scientists. Therefore, it is surprising that one of his fatherly protectors, who had helped him to get enrolled at the prestigious polytechnical school (ETH) at Zurich, is poorly known: it is the authors great-grandfather Gustav Maier. He was born at Ulm, Germany, in 1844 and, together with his spouse Regina Friedlaender, they were good friends of Hermann and Pauline Einstein-Koch. Thus, it was natural that the Einsteins reached out to Gustav Maier, meanwhile installed at Zurich, for assisting the 16-year-old Albert in getting his education. Indeed, the Einsteins hat moved for professional reasons to Italy, and it would have been very difficult for Albert to get a higher education there. At the arrival of Albert at Zurich, in the fall of 1895, Gustav Maier had recognized immediately that the young man was exceptionally gifted. He reached out to one of his acquaintances, Albin Herzog, rector of the ETH, informing him about a prodigy and whether the young man could start his studies at the ETH despite his young age. In this book, these important steps in Albert Einstein's life are illustrated with source material. Furthermore, the biography of Gustav Maier is presented, mostly in his own words, and the Jewish family origin is explored. Indeed, it was in the Jewish congregation at Ulm where the Maiers and the Einsteins had met and started their friendship. This book contains source material from private family archives. More information about the history of the Maier, Meierhofer and Anner families can be found on this website: https://www.themaierannerfiles.ch/

Als Naturwissenschaftlerin (Beatrice Maier Anner, Dr. pharm.), in Zürich geboren, habe ich 30 Jahre lang an der Universität Genf in Forschung und Lehre gearbeitet, dazu postdoktorale Ausbildung im Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA als Fogarty International Fellow und später 4-jährige Arbeit als eingeladene Dozentin an der Loma LInda University, CA, USA. Zurück in Genf, begann ich die Arbeit an einem grossen Familienarchiv, das ich von meinen Eltern geerbt hatte. Mein Urgrossvater Gustav Maier. am 6. Sept. 1844 als Jude in Ulm geboren, war nämlich ab 1895 der Förderer des jungen Albert Einsteins in Zürich, wo er ihm das Studium an der ETH ermöglichte. Danach wurde der Sohn von Gustav Maier, Dr. med. HW Maier, zum Arzt von Eduard Einstein, des erkrankten Sohnes von Albert Einstein. Zudem gibt es in der mütterlichen Meierhofer Familie auch dynamische Persönlichkeiten, wie Dr. med. Marie Meierhofer, die bekannte Kinderärztin. So habe ich jetzt einige Ahnen in Biographien mit Quellenmaterial aus meinem Privatarchiv und aus öffentlichen Archiven beschrieben. Mehr Informationen über die Maiers, Meierhofers und Anners sind auf ihrer Website zusammengetragen: https://www.themaierannerfiles.ch/