Keywords

Albert Einstein, Swiss-American, Albert Einstein education, Swiss-American physics, twentieth century physics

Abstract

The most famous Swiss American, by far, was Albert Einstein. It is well known that Einstein worked in Germany starting in 1914, but he was forced to leave in 1933 as someone the Nazis had "not yet hanged," and he came to the United States where he taught at Princeton University for many years. However, Einstein had earlier lived in Switzerland for many years. Even though he became an American citizen in 1940, the great physicist retained ties to Switzerland, and he kept his Swiss passport all his life. Einstein spent his most productive years in Switzerland where he matured, received his advanced education, fell in love and married, made life-long friend ships, formulated his most important ideas, and received his first academic position. The purpose of this paper is to examine Einstein's life in Switzerland to understand better how his experiences there influenced his intellectual and emotional development.

Original Publication Citation

Winkler, K. (2012). Albert Einstein in Switzerland: The Education of the Most Famous Swiss American. Swiss American Historical Society Review, 48(3), 1-17.