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His second wife also happened to be his first cousin. Interestingly, they shared the "Einstein" surname (their fathers were also first cousins) and would have s
by tadfisher 14y ago
His second wife also happened to be his first cousin. Interestingly, they shared the "Einstein" surname (their fathers were also first cousins) and would have shared it at the time they married, but Elsa had already married and divorced by that point.
- sopooneo 14y agoIf their fathers were first cousins, wouldn't that make them second cousins?
- tadfisher 14y agoNot necessarily; their mothers were sisters, and their fathers were cousins on their father's side (so both Albert and Elsa had the surname "Einstein").
- ams6110 14y agoFunny that when we think of inbreeding we think of low IQ as one of the common characteristics.
- unreal37 14y agoAlbert Einstein was not himself imbred. His mother and father were not related before marriage.
- lostlogin 14y agoI think Hitler falls into the category too - I seem to recall that his parents were distant cousins.
- tadfisher 14y agoThe actual consequences of inbreeding are overblown by most. First cousins have a 12.5 percent chance of passing on a set of recessive gene expressions, which is about the same chance as an ordinary mother in her 40s.