A violin belonging to the scientist Albert Einstein (1879-1955) was put up for auction in the UK with an estimated value of 200,000 to 300,000 pounds ($270,000-405,000), announced the English auction house Dominic Winter, which will hold the auction on October 8.
According to the publication, the future Nobel laureate and author of the theory of relativity acquired the musical instrument in Germany in the mid-1890s, shortly before he left for Switzerland to study at the Polytechnic Institute in Zurich. When the Nazis came to power in the 1930s, Einstein decided to emigrate to the United States. He gave his belongings to his fellow physicist Max von Laue so that they would not disappear without a trace. Among them was the aforementioned violin, the first that the scientist had personally bought, as well as a bicycle and a book on philosophy given to the young Einstein by his father.
Twenty years later, von Laue gave these belongings to a great admirer of Einstein, Margarete Homrich from Braunschweig. The items remained in her family for more than 70 years. Homrich's great-great-granddaughter decided to auction them off.
The bicycle seat (itself in poor condition) was put up for auction for £50,000, and the 1843 edition of René Descartes and Benedict Spinoza with pencil notes by Einstein for £3,000.
Einstein began playing the violin as a child at the insistence of his mother Paulina and maintained this passion throughout his life, often performing works by Mozart, Bach and Beethoven for friends. He also played while thinking - the scientist says that music helps him think. He calls all his violins, including the one sold in England, “Lina".