EINSTEIN

Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany in 1879. He grew up in Munich, and moved to Italy, where his parents had established residence His interest in science began at an early age, mathematics and physics being his major fields of interest. After graduating from the Zurich Polytechnic Institute at the age of 21, he became a Swiss citizen and worked at the Patent Office in Bern (Switzerland).

In 1933, as Hitler rose to power, foreseeing the harrowing evil of Nazism, Einstein emigrated to the U.S.A., he joined the faculty of the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton, New Jersey, and became a United States citizen.

During World War II, Einstein corresponded with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, informing him that it was possible to release atomic energy. Further research ensued this correspondence and as a result of it development of atomic energy continued; Einstein as a pacifist was adamantly opposed to nuclear warfare, and actively campaigned to have atomic weapons banned from society.

Einstein was a Jew by belief and by birth. He became acquainted with Chaim Weizmann and from 1921 helped raise funds in the U.S. for the purchase of land in Palestine. After the death of the Chaim Weizmann (Israel's first president), he was approached by Ben-Gurion to become the next president of Israel. Einstein declined, "being deeply touched by the offer but not suited for the position."

Aside from being the most renowned physicist of our time, Einstein played the violin as an amateur, displaying considerable talent.

He received the Nobel Prize for the Theory of Relativity. His discoveries, not quite understood as of yet, have greatly altered man's view of the Universe.

The stamp is a portrait of Professor Albert Einstein, in the background his formula E=mc2.