There is no need to talk about who Albert Einstein is and how grandiose discoveries he made, because the achievements of the genius physicist are known to everyone. But his personal life is full of surprises and secrets. In 1998, a lot appeared at the Sotheby's auction, which caused a whole storm of discussions. These were love letters from Einstein to Margarita Konenkova, a Soviet intelligence officer and wife of the great sculptor Sergei Timofeevich Konenkov. It was quite obvious from the letters that the scientist was connected with this woman not only by friendly relations.
When Sergey Konenkov married Margarita, the age difference between them was 21 years. After the wedding, the newlyweds soon left the USSR for New York for an exhibition of Russian art, but stayed in the United States for as much as 22 years. It was there that Einstein's fateful meeting with the wife of the famous sculptor took place.
In 1935, the 56-year-old physicist showed up at Konenkov's studio to begin posing for a sculptural portrait commissioned by Princeton University. At that time, Margarita was 39 years old. In her diary, she wrote that the famous scientist was always talking with enthusiasm about the theory of relativity, but it was noticeable that her attention flattered him.
Soon the couple began to spend a lot of time together, and so that Sergei Timofeevich did not suspect anything, Einstein once even sent him a message about Margarita's illness, in which he clarified that the doctors allegedly recommended her to spend as much time as possible in Saranac Lake, where he had a cottage …
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Speaking about Margarita Konenkova herself, it is worth noting that she had a difficult task - to become an informant. Since in those years the United States was actively working on the creation of a nuclear bomb, the great physicist simply could not but have certain information on this issue. For the sake of his beloved, realizing that she could face punishment for failing to fulfill the task, Einstein agreed to meet with the Deputy Consul of the USSR in America. And again, for the sake of his love, he helped Konenkova subsequently free from the arrest of the FBI.
But, in spite of everything, the happiness of secret lovers did not last long, in 1945 the Konenkov couple received an order to return to their homeland. So, with the departure of Margarita to the USSR, the romantic story of a scout and a brilliant physicist ended.
Irina Pasynkova
