User:ConstanceWin/sandbox/Jost Winteler

Jost Winteler (21 November 1846 — 23 February 1929) was a Swiss-born linguist, professor of history and Greek at the Old Canton School Aarau, ornithologist, poet, and was both a childhood mentor and friend of Albert Einstein (14 March 1879 - 18 April 1955).

Early Life

Jost Winteler was born on November 21, 1846, in Filzbach, Switzerland.

Family

In 1871, Winteler married Pauline Eckart, who was from Jena, Germany. Her family was related to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's wife, Christiane Vulpius.

Winteler had seven children: Anna (1872-1944), Jost Fridolin ("Fritz") (1873-19??), Rosa (1875-1962), Marie (1877-1957), Mathias (1878-1934), Jost Jr. ("Julius") (1880-1906), and Paul (1882-1952).

Winteler's youngest daughter, Marie, would become Albert Einstein's first girlfriend at the age of 18 (when he stayed at the Winteler house while attending the school that Winteler taught at). Later, Winteler's oldest daughter, Anna, would end up marrying Einstein's friend, Michele Besso; his youngest son, Paul, would marry Einstein's only sister, Maria "Maja" Einstein.

Winteler and his large family lived in a house that was close by to the Old Canton School Aarau. A plaque placed on the facade of this house reads (as translated from German), "

Albert Einstein

Gustav Maier (the principle of Zurich Polytechnic) arranged for Einstein to stay at the home of the Wintelers. It was actually a common practice for students to lodge in the home of a teacher during this time.

Family Tragedy

On November 1st, 1906, Jost Winteler was utterly devastated by a family tragedy. One of his sons, Jost Jr. (or Julius as he had come to be known as), who had suffered from mental illness, and who had been brought back home to Switzerland from America by his greatly concerned father, shot and killed his own mother (Winteler's beloved wife of 35 years, Pauline), his sister Rosa's husband, Ernst Bandi, and then finally, himself.

Upon hearing this news, Albert Einstein (who had long considered Pauline Winteler to have been a second mother to him), was just as heartbroken by this as Winteler. He wrote a letter of sympathy and condolence to his old mentor two days later, on November 3, 1906. Einstein had this to say about the tragedy:

"Highly esteemed Professor Winteler: Deeply shaken by the terrible tragedy that burst so suddenly upon you and your children, I feel compelled to express my deepest condolences, even though I know very well how impotent my feeble words are in the face of such pain. All those who have personally experienced the goodness of your heart and have seen how earnestly you have always strived for truth and justice, must shudder at the thought of the terrible blow that blind fate has dealt you. The dear departed has shown me so much kindness, while I caused her only sorrow and pain; that distresses me all the more at this hour! But of what use is all this? All I can do is to put my feeble powers at the service of you or your children in case they can be of help in any way, whether now or later. With deepest respect, yours, A. Einstein"

--The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume 5: The Swiss Years: Correspondence, 1902-1914, Page 45.

Death

Jost Winteler died on February 23, 1929, in Wattwil, Switzerland. He was 82 years old. (His wife, Pauline, and his son, Julius, proceeded him in death by 22 years.)

Legacy

Winteler is portrayed by Nicholas Rowe (actor) in National Geographic’s first scripted series, Genius (U.S. TV series). The series premiered on the National Geographic (U.S. TV channel) on April 25, 2017. Rowe’s character was featured in three episodes of this series; Einstein: Chapter One, Einstein: Chapter Two, and Einstein: Chapter Four. The pilot episode, Einstein: Chapter One, which was directed by Ron Howard, was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special.

Genius was based on Walter Isaacson’s biography of Albert Einstein, Einstein: His Life and Universe (2007). In his novel, Isaacson describes the Wintelers as, “a wonderful family,” and described Winteler himself as “a liberal who shared Einstein’s allergy to German militarism and to nationalism in general. His edgy honesty and political idealism helped to shape Einstein's social philosophy. Like his mentor, Einstein would become a supporter of world federalism, internationalism, pacifism, and democratic socialism, which a strong devotion to individual liberty and freedom of expression.”