Hebrew University adds new manuscripts to Albert Einstein archive
Credit to Author: kadraneda| Date: Wed, 06 Mar 2019 14:06:57 +0000
JERUSALEM — Israel’s Hebrew University said it has obtained a “magnificent” collection of Albert Einstein’s manuscripts, including a personal letter in which he expressed shame for not knowing the Hebrew language.
The university announced the acquisition on Wednesday ahead of the physicist’s 140th birthday, following a donation by the Crown-Goodman Foundation. The Chicago-based foundation purchased the 110-page collection from a private collector in North Carolina for an undisclosed sum.
Among the documents are Einstein’s correspondences with lifelong friend Michele Besso. In one letter, Einstein praises Besso, a Christian of Jewish descent, for learning Hebrew. Einstein wrote that he “must feel ashamed” for not speaking Hebrew, “but I prefer to feel ashamed than to learn it.”
Einstein left most of his collection to the university after his death in 1955. /kga