Lewis Einstein

Lewis David Einstein (March 15, 1877 – December 4, 1967) was an American diplomat, historian аnd art collector.

Early life Einstein was born to a Jewish family March 15, 1877, in New York City. He was the only son of wool magnate David Lewis Einstein (1839–1909) and, his wife, Caroline (née Fatman) Einstein (1852–1910). Lewis had two sisters: Amy Einstein, who married Joel Elias Spingarn, and Florence Einstein, who married Sir Charles Waldstein.

Among his family was uncle, Henry L. Einstein, the proprietor of The New York Press, and Judah P. Benjamin, a U.S. Senator from Louisiana who served as the Confederate States Attorney General, Secretary of War, and Secretary of State.

Einstein graduated from Columbia University Bachelor of Arts June 11, 1898, and earned a Master of Arts there, June 7, 1899.

Career Einstein's diplomatic career began in 1903, when he was appointed as Third Secretary of Legation at Constantinople. Einstein advanced from Second Secretary to First Secretary and then Charge d'Affairs during the Young Turk Revolution of 1908, remaining in Constantinople despite the hostilities. He provided asylum in his hotel rooms and prevented the arrest of the British vice consul. He also succeeded in "a game of hide and seek" with the authorities to get considerable improvement in the treatment and the condition of British prisoners of war.

U.S. Minister to Czechoslovakia On October 8, 1921, Warren Harding appointed Einstein to replace Richard Crane as the United States Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Czechoslovakia. He was recommended by Senators Wadsworth and William M. Calder. He presented his credentials on December 20, 1921, and held the position until he left his post on February 1, 1930.

He was also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Personal life In 1904, he married Helen (née Carew) Ralli (1863–1949), a noted Anglo-Greek beauty who was fourteen years older than him. Helen was a daughter of Robert Russell Carew and her sister, Jessica Philippa Carew, was married to Francis Stonor, 4th Baron Camoys. This marriage led to friction between Einstein and his father, who worried that Ralli would damage the younger Einstein's career; Ralli was twice a divorcee (including to Alexander Ralli), and divorced women could not be received in some European courts. From his wife's marriage to Ralli, she was the mother of Marguerite Christine Ralli, who later married William Hay, 11th Marquess of Tweeddale, becoming the Marchioness of Tweeddale.

Einstein was disinherited by his father after marrying Ralli, except for a sum of $125,000. After Einstein's death, newspapers reported that a $1,250,000 share of the elder Einstein's estate, valued in total at approximately $4,000,000, had been set aside for Lewis Einstein in the event that he divorced his wife, and that it passed to his sister Lady Waldstein after he declined to do so. This report was denied by Lady Waldstein, who indicated that the father's only wish regarding Lewis Einstein was to see that he was "taken care of", a means she accomplished by granting him an annual allowance of $20,000. Earlier, Lewis had received nothing from the estate of his mother Caroline Einstein, who instead divided her property among Einstein's sisters and various friends among European nobility.

After the death of his first wife on June 25, 1949, he remarried to Camilla Elizabeth (née Hare) Lippincott (1879–1976) in 1950. Camilla was the widow of Jay Bucknell Lippincott and daughter of Brig. Gen. Luther Rector Hare, known for participating in the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

Einstein died at his home in Paris, France, on December 2, 1967, and was buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.

Honors and awards Einstein received the following honors and awards: Officer of the Legion of Honor. Grand Officer, S.S. Maurice and Lazarus. Received a presentation plate from the British Government. Grand Cross of the Order of the White Lion.

Authorship Einstein wrote the following books:

Einstein also engaged in a longtime correspondence with Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., and in 1964 their collected letters were published in the volume The Holmes-Einstein Letters : Correspondence of Mr. Justice Holmes and Lewis Einstein 1903–1935, edited by James Bishop Peabody.

Editorship Lewis Einstein was general editor of the Humanists' Library, published by Merrymount Press.