Albert Einstein (1879-1955).

Autograph letter signed ('Albert') to his first wife, Mileva, Le Coq[-sur-Mer/De Haan, Belgium], 19 July 1933.

In German, 1½ pages, 270 x 205mm (worn at folds with some marginal splits, the longest 35mm). Provenance: Christie's, 7 June 2006, lot 90.

Einstein reduced to penury after the Nazi seizure of power. Paul Dukas has told Einstein of Mileva's difficult position: 'Do not worry. I will, in spite of my own precarious situation, help you out of this – this time at least'. His suggestion is that she sell one of the apartment buildings in Zurich which she had bought with his Nobel Prize money (as part of their divorce settlement in 1919), in order to clear her remortgaging debts with the banks. 'You know that the Germans have taken away my money in Germany. The Swiss authorities have indeed intervened, but so lamely and weakly that there was no chance of success. My American income has been devalued by the dollar crash and the whole family has been reduced to the status of beggars'; he should however have enough for Mileva's requirements in this case, even if he regrets that they did not follow his original suggestion of putting the money directly in their sons' names. He is happy to hear that there will be an attempt to take their younger son Eduard out of the [Burghölzli] asylum [where he had been placed after a breakdown]. A postscript urges Mileva to write quickly: 'Nobody knows what will happen next!'.

Einstein had, fortunately, been on a trip to the USA at the Nazi seizure of power; by the time of his return to Europe in March 1933 his German property and bank accounts had already been seized: he immediately renounced his German citizenship. He then spent six months reflecting on his next move, initially at the Belgian seaside resort of De Haan (also known as Le Coq-sur-Mer). It was at this period that he discovered the Nazis had put a price of $5,000 on his head, and the Belgian government was obliged to assign two bodyguards to his protection. Einstein had visited his younger son Eduard (1910-1965) at the Burghölzli asylum in May 1933: it was to be the last time they would see one another.

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