Show all records
Click image for high resolution zoom or multiple image views.

    Title

  • Albert Einstein and Paul Ehrenfest : with one of Ehrenfest's sons

  • Physical Description

    1 Photograph : black-and-white ; 11 x 8 cm

  • Date

    early 1920s

  • Place of Publication

    Leiden (Netherlands)

  • Notes

    "University of Leiden" on verso.

  • Summary

    Albert Einstein and Paul Ehrenfest at a piano in Leiden. One of Ehrenfest’s sons, either Paul, Jr. or Vassily ('Wassik') is sitting in Einstein’s lap.

  • Depicted

    Einstein, Albert, 1879-1955; Ehrenfest, Paul, 1880-1933

  • Subject

    Portraits, Groups

  • Genre

    Photographs

  • Part Of

    Albert Einstein Collection, AR 136

  • Accession Number

  • URL

Biographical/Historical Information

Paul Ehrenfest was a physicist and professor at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. He married Tatyana Alexeyevna Afanassjewa, a mathematician. He was known as a profound, yet engaging teacher who popularized and explained many new ideas in physics, particularly in the categories of quantum theory and relativity. His own research and collaborations with his wife served to solidify existing concepts in physics, while his personal devotion to science forged bonds between himself and the likes of physicists Max Planck and Albert Einstein. Ehrenfest succeeded Hendrik Lorentz as professor of theoretical physics at the University of Leiden, where he remained until his death. Ehrenfest suffered from depression. In 1933 he shot his youngest son, Vassily ('Wassik'), who had down syndrome, before killing himself.

Related Works in the LBI Catalog

Depicted:

This will search the complete LBI Catalog, including non-digitized and digitized materials. The Catalog will list the complete LBI holdings pertaining to the person depicted, including all artworks, archival collections, photographs, books, and periodicals.

Reproductions and Permissions

We welcome fair use of this content. Please credit the Leo Baeck Institute in your citation. For usage policies and to request higher resolution images, see Reproductions and Permissions.

Citation

Albert Einstein and Paul Ehrenfest : with one of Ehrenfest's sons, Leo Baeck Institute, F 5313C.