Description:

Albert Einstein
Pasadena, CA, ca. 1931
Albert Einstein Signed Photo from Arriving in San Diego with Wife Elsa -- Superlative!
Signed photograph
A superb signed photograph of Einstein with his wife Elsa while disembarking from the SS Belgenland upon their arrival at Pier I in San Diego on December 30, 1930. Signed by Einstein in blue fountain ink at top right, adding "Pasadena 1931." Measuries 10" x 8". A minor .25" tear at bottom left margin and a moderate fold at top right corner, neither one of which materially detracts from this excellent image. Overall very good condition.

While this photograph is dated 1931 and in Pasadena, the photo itself was taken on December 30, 1930 as the Einsteins arrived in San Diego, where they were greeted by a large crowd. The following day, Einstein delighted a crowd of more than 8,000 who gathered to hear him speak at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion at Balboa Park in San Diego. "I'm feeling fine and delighted to be in California on my first visit here," he proclaimed, "I feel you are justified in looking into the future with true assurance, because you have a mode of living in which we find harmoniously combined the joy of life and the joy of work…". Einstein and his wife Elsa toured the city and lunched with local dignitaries at the U.S. Grant Hotel the same day. The following day, they attended the Rose Parade before departing for the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Einstein spent the next three months as a visiting scholar at Caltech, meeting the likes of Charlie Chaplin and other Hollywood stars, California politicians, and pioneering scientists, and was the honoree of numerous dinners. He and Elsa took up residence at 707 South Oakland Street in Pasadena and would winter there in 1931, 1932 and 1933. Einstein relished his time in California: "Here in Pasadena, it is like Paradise," Einstein wrote in a letter. His subsequent visits to Caltech attracted less public attention, for which Einstein was grateful, and he ventured off-campus less often.

Albert Einstein married his first maternal cousin Elsa (1876-1936) on June 2, 1919 following his divorce from first wife, Mileva Maric. While the couple did not have any children of their own, Einstein formally adopted his two stepdaughters and raised them as his own. Together the family moved to the Berlin area and later acquired a summer house in nearby Potsdam in 1929. The Einsteins ultimately fled Germany, however, upon Hitler's rise to power, whereupon Albert and Elsa immigrated to Princeton, New Jersey. Just two years later in 1936, Elsa was diagnosed with a series of health problems, eventually succumbing to her illness that December.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 10" x 8"
  • Medium: Signed photograph

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January 29, 2025 10:00 AM EST
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