The reputation of the world-renowned theoretical physicist and humanitarian Albert Einstein may be tainted in the wake of the recently published travel diaries that unveil his racist views, in particular on the Chinese.
Published by Princeton University Press, the diaries date back to 1920s, the time when the famous Austrian physicist was extensively traveling with his wife Elsa. In late 1922 they embarked on a five-and-a-half-month journey to the Far East and the Middle East. They traveled to Singapore, China, Japan, and briefly sojourned in Palestine before concluding the whirlwind tour in Spain.
In manuscripts, he apparently never intended to publish, Einstein shared his travel impressions about art, politics, science, philosophy and ultimately, racial equality. In striking contradiction with his later statements, the Nobel Prize laureate wrote down thoughts on racial stereotypes, insisting that some races not only could not equate to others, but were inferior to them.
He described the Chinese as “industrious, filthy, obtuse” and “a peculiar herd-like nation,” that, according to Einstein, posed threat to other nations.
