Einstein's Russian muse: a secret love story of the great physicist and Soviet intelligence

It is not necessary to talk about who Albert Einstein is and how grandiose discoveries he made, because the achievements of the brilliant physicist are known to everyone. But his personal life is full of surprises and secrets. In 1998, a lot appeared at Sotheby's, causing a storm of discussion. These were Einstein’s love letters to Margarita Konenkova, Soviet intelligence and wife of the great sculptor Cepgey Timofeevich Konenkov. From the letters it was quite obvious that the scientist was associated not only with friendship with this woman.

When Sergey Konenkov married Margarita, their age difference was 21 years. After the wedding, the newlyweds soon left the USSR to New York for an exhibition of Russian art, but were delayed in the United States for as long as 22 years. There the fateful meeting of Einstein with the wife of the famous sculptor took place.

In 1935, a 56-year-old physicist appeared in Konenkov's studio to begin posing for his sculptural portrait, commissioned by Princeton University. Margarita was 39 years old at the time. In her diary, she wrote that the famous scientist was always enthusiastically talking about the theory of relativity, but it was noticeable that her attention was flattering him.

Soon, the couple began to spend a lot of time together, so that Sergei Timofeevich would not suspect anything, Einstein once even sent him a message about Margarita’s illness, in which he specified that the doctors supposedly recommended that she spend as much time as possible in Saranak Lake, where he had a cottage .

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 have certain information on this issue. For the sake of his beloved, realizing that she could face punishment for not fulfilling the assignment, Einstein agreed to meet with the USSR Deputy Consul in America. And again, for the sake of her love, Konenkova helped to subsequently free herself from FBI arrest.

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 in the USSR, the romantic story of the scout and the brilliant physicist ended.