Portrait Albert Einstein
Source: Initiativkreis

Biography of Albert Einstein

1879 Albert Einstein, first child of Hermann and Pauline Einstein, is born in Ulm on March 14th.
1880 After moving to Munich, Hermann and his brother Jacob establish an electrical engineering company.
1881 On November 10th, Albert's sister Maria (called Maja) is born.
1889 Albert Einstein is enrolled in the "Luitpold-Gymnasium" in Munich.
1894 The Einstein company is closed down and Albert's parents move to Milan. Albert leaves school before his final exams to join his parents.
1895 Albert finishes school in the canton of Aarau and gives up his German citizenship and is stateless.
1896—1900 Einstein studies at the Swiss "Polytechnikum" in Zurich, which later becomes the "Technical University" (ETH).
1900 Einstein finishes his degree as a teacher for mathematics and physics.
1901 Einstein obtains Swiss citizenship.
1902 Birth of Einstein's daughter Lieserl with his partner Mileva Maric in Novi Sad. Einstein works at the "Eidgenössisches Amt für geistiges Eigentum Bern" (Patent Office). In the same year, his father Hermann dies in Milan.
1903 Albert Einstein marries Mileva Maric in Bern.
1904 Mileva gives birth to his first son, Hans Albert.
1905 "Annus mirabilis": Einstein publishes his work on Brownian motion, the photoelectric effect and the electrodynamics of bodies in motion (special relativity theory) containing in revision the famous formula E = mc2. Einstein becomes one of the most famous physicists in the world.
1906 Doctorate degree at the University of Zurich.
1908 Professorial dissertation (Habilitation) and university lectureship in physics in Bern.
1909 Einstein is appointed associate professor for theoretical physics at the University of Zurich. He receives an honorary doctorate at the University of Geneva.
1910 His son Eduard is born.
1911 As a full professor at the German University of Prague,
he takes part in the first Solvay-Congress in Brussels.
1912 Professor of theoretical physics at ETH Zurich.
1913 Invitation to membership in the "Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften" (Prussian Academy of Science) in Berlin.
1914 The Einstein family moves to Berlin, Mileva and Albert separate and Mileva returns to Zurich with both sons. With the start of World War I, Einstein becomes engaged in political and pacifist activities.
1915 His work on gravitation leads to the general theory of relativity.
1916 Einstein becomes president of the "Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft" (German Physics Society) and executive board member of the "Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt Berlin".
1917 Albert moves into his cousin Elsa's apartment in Berlin-Schöneberg, Haberlandstraße 5.
1919 Divorce from Mileva and second marriage with Elsa. An expedition to the solar eclipse carried out by the Royal Society of London gives proof to Einstein's theory of gravitation.
1920 Einstein's mother Pauline dies after a serious illness.
1921 First journey to the USA, collecting donations for the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
1922 Nobel Prize for his work on theoretical physics, especially for the discovery of the photoelectrical effect.
1923 Albert Einstein visits the site of the future Hebrew University (established 1918)
1924 Completion of the "Einstein-Turm" (Einstein-tower) in Potsdam.
1925 Journey to South America, discovery of the Bose-Einstein condensate.
1928 Einstein suffers a serious heart disease; Helene Dukas is employed as his secretary.
1929 Completion of the summer house in Caputh; awarded the Max Planck Medal by the German Physical Society.
1930 Speech on conscientious objection at the "Ritz-Carlton" Hotel in New York.
1932 Departure on a tour as guest lecturer to the USA in December.
1933 After the Nazis come to power, returning to Germany is impossible. Einstein moves with his wife Elsa, stepdaughter Margot and secretary Helene Dukas to Princeton with an appointment at the Institute for Advanced Study. Einstein leaves the Prussian Academy of Science and renounces his German citizenship. Seizure of his legal estate in Germany.
1935 Einstein purchases a house in Mercer Street in Princeton, which he occupies until his death. Publication of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox of quantum mechanics ("Can Quantum-Mechanical Description of Physical Reality Be Considered Complete?").
1936 Elsa Einstein dies in Princeton.
1939 Einstein sends a letter to President Roosevelt about the possible construction of an atomic bomb by Germany.
1940 Einstein becomes an American citizen.
1944 At an auction, a handwritten copy of Einstein's work on electrodynamics is sold for 6 million dollars to finance war bonds.
1946 President of the committee for the prevention of a nuclear war, commitment towards a world government.
1952 Einstein declines the offer of becoming president of Israel.
1955 Albert Einstein dies on April 18th in Princeton.