Albert Einstein was the world’s genius. He discovered the theory of relativity, E=mc2. It changed the way we look at the universe. Its impact can’t be overstated. He was the Man of the Century. He was an icon. Everyone recognized the wild gray hair and mustache. He came to the United States in 1933 as a refugee from Germany to escape the Nazis. He went to work at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University. So, the smartest man in the world was living, in of all places, New Jersey.
Monday, March 14, 1955 was Einstein’s 76th birthday. That drew reporters, film crews, and photographers to his house on Mercer Street in Princeton. They were hoping for an interview or, at least, a picture.
Around nine o’clock, a secretary came out and gave the assembled reporters some bad news. She announced, “No pictures today. Dr. Einstein says use last year’s picture. He hasn’t changed since then!” That left reporters and photographers standing around taking pictures of each other standing in front of Einstein’s house. Later in the day, an artist named Benjamin Cortizane showed up from New York City with a friend. He said he was portrait painter and sculptor, and had a portrait of Einstein he wanted to present to him. The reporters were surprised when Cortizane and his friend were welcomed inside.
A short time later, when Cortizane came outside, he discovered that his car wouldn’t start. He thought Mercer Street was too steep to walk, and asked a reporter from Hearst Metrotone News for a ride uptown. The reporter said sure. Cortizane then offered to pay for the ride by giving the reporter a roll of film from a Brownie camera that contained pictures of Einstein that had just been taken. Cortizane said he wanted a souvenir of the portrait presentation, and asked Einstein if he had a camera. Einstein got his camera and a roll of film. They went to the back porch and Cortizane’s friend snapped away. The reporter couldn’t believe his luck. He went to the office of the Princeton Packet, a local newspaper. He explained what he had, and asked if someone could develop the roll of film right away. He said, “Maybe it will be blank or maybe we’ll have some real pictures.” When the film was processed, they discovered it was full of similar pictures of Einstein and Cortizane posing with the portrait. Cortizane’s friend snapped the whole roll “just to make sure”. The reporter had hit the jackpot. He left one picture for The Princeton Packet (seen above) and sent the rest, still wet, to his office back in New York. When he got off the phone with his newsroom he said, “They turned a flip” over his scoop.
A little over a month later, Einstein was hospitalized with internal bleeding caused by the rupture of an aneurysm in his abdomen. He had the draft of a speech with him that he was going to give during a TV appearance commemorating the State of Israel’s seventh anniversary. Einstein refused surgery saying, “I want to go when I want. It is tasteless to prolong life artificially. I have done my share. It is time to go. I will do it elegantly”. He died at Princeton Hospital on April, 18, 1955. That picture the young reporter got may have been one of the last pictures of the world’s greatest genius. That reporter was my father.
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