Albert Einstein became the Marie Curie's biggest fan
In 1906, a horrific automobile accident claimed the life of Pierre. By 1911 Marie Curie had dedicated a lot of time to work but was barely receiving the credit she deserved. She went to the Solvay Conference in Brussels, which brings together the top physicists in the world. Curie was the sole female participant.
She had her first encounter with Albert Einstein in this location. At the time, misogyny, xenophobia, and antisemitism were at their height in France. Curie fell into profound despair as a result of being shut out of any settings in which she could outperform any male competitors. Around this time, Einstein took it upon himself to write Curie a thoughtful letter in which he expressed his admiration and inspiration for her passion and brilliance. He pleaded with her to persevere, to battle on, and to know that there were those who supported her.
Fans of Albert Einstein eagerly anticipated a time in December 2014 when the Digital Einstein Papers initiative made a wealth of his correspondence, diaries, and postcards online accessible. The roughly 5,000 documents provided some insights into his thought process, but the letter to pioneering female physicist Marie Curie that provided some Einsteinian advice on how to handle the public's appetite for information about her private affairs struck many.
