What woman refuses to become the beloved of an outstanding man? This often seems to be a recognition of her exclusivity. But do not rush to envy her, Austrian historian Friedrich Weissensteiner warns. In the book Wives of Geniuses, he told what it means to be the beloved woman of a genius.
To an outsider, it may seem that the wife of a recognized talent has a life as exciting and exciting as that of her partner. She, of course, constantly accompanies him at receptions and on tour, almost every day she meets interesting people and makes friends with the same extraordinary personalities as her husband.
Unfortunately, the real life of these women is different from fantasy. Friedrich Weissensteiner described the difficulties that the wives of famous geniuses had to face in different periods of their lives.
Meeting a Genius
When he is awarded the Nobel Prize or books published in millions of copies, he is usually married and it is not always clear how he attracted the attention of his wife.
Genius men often look unattractive and do not come across as respectable people.
Albert Einstein lectured at the best universities in the world in a rumpled worn suit. He seldom shaved, almost never combed his hair or brushed his teeth. When Einstein’s sister arrived at the University of Bern, where her brother taught, the gatekeeper exclaimed: “And this ragamuffin is your brother? I would never have thought of that.”
Wagner had huge debts, and only Cosima’s business streak helped him find stability in the last years of his life.
They are not always young.
Goethe met his future life partner Christiane on the threshold of forty years, and Richard Wagner married Cosima when he was over fifty.
The beginning of a life together is rarely cloudless.
Mozart’s father objected to his son’s marriage, fearing that the marriage would harm his musical career. And Constanta’s mother did not want to give her daughter away “for nothing.” The young composer was too poor to pay his mother-in-law an annuity, as her eldest daughter’s husband did.
Mileva Maric’s parents did not want their daughter to marry the Jewish Einstein.
Goethe married Christian after 18 years of marriage, when they already had an adult son. Society condemned the connection of a nobleman and adviser to the duke with a poor girl who had barely learned to read and write.
Life with a genius
Marriage with them is hard work, they are capricious and selfish. The wife turns out to be a cook, cleaner and nanny rolled into one. If funds permit, she manages the servants, supervises repairs and relocations, and shields her husband from worries.
Thomas Mann’s wife bore him six children. Growing up, they unanimously admired the mother’s ability to solve problems on her own.
A month after the birth of her first son, Constanze, Mozart went on tour with her husband, entrusting the care of the baby to a strange family in which the child died.
No one really knows what happened to the eldest daughter of the Einsteins. Either she was given up for adoption, or her relatives were entrusted with raising her. The sick younger son was also not interested in his father; the scientist almost did not engage in the upbringing of his eldest son Hans Albert. Relations improved when he grew up and became a well-known scientist himself.
They need special conditions for work and life.
Goethe was annoyed by the bustle and lack of impressions, and he was absent from home for months.
Mann could only work in familiar surroundings. Therefore, he always carried furniture from his office with him. Katya was in charge of organizing the transfers. She was his secretary and manager, monitored his diet and daily routine, and took him for walks every day.
They care little about the ambitions of their spouse.
Einstein’s wife Mileva could have become a scientist. Einstein himself admitted that her knowledge of mathematics was much deeper than his own. But after the wedding, he was not interested in his wife’s career: “I look at my wife as a servant, whom, however, I cannot fire.”
Goethe was glad that his wife, Christiane, did not read books, was not interested in politics, and did not suffer from a literary itch. He valued her as “a priceless treasure in the house, in the kitchen and in bed.”
They are amorous and often change.
Einstein left his first wife, Mileva, who seemed melancholy to him, for his cousin Elsa, who was cheerful and balanced. But even after marrying her, he continued to start novels.
Lovelace Wagner fell in love with a young French woman, Judith Gauthier, when he was 64. He wrote passionate letters to her: “I don’t give a damn about this whole life and the whole world. I love and love.”
Before meeting Katya, Thomas Mann was only interested in men. After 25 years of marriage, the writer again remembered his love for the stronger sex. Undoubtedly, Katya knew about her husband’s addictions, but she endured and was silent in order to maintain peace in the family and avoid the condemnation of society.
And what in return?
Stories of women who for many years supported their husbands on the thorny path to fame – stories of boundless love and self-denial for the sake of a brilliant husband. But were they happy?
Katya Mann, after the death of her husband, said that she never lived the way she wanted.
Christiane Goethe was dying alone – her husband was too busy to waste time at the bedside of his sick wife.
And Mileva Einstein alone struggled with the mental illness of her youngest son and, in the end, she herself lost her mind.