The secret life of Albert Einstein's stolen and sliced brain
In short: Albert Einstein wanted his remains scattered in secret to prevent him from becoming an idol. Instead, a pathologist ignored those wishes, stole the organ, and spent decades hiding it in cider boxes and beer coolers while carving it into hundreds of pieces for private study.
Einstein died on April 18, 1955, at Princeton Hospital following an abdominal aortic aneurysm. Despite his explicit instructions to be cremated and have his ashes scattered secretly to discourage 'idolaters,' the pathologist on call, Thomas Harvey, took the brain without permission from Einstein or his family. The physicist had suffered from chest pains on the evening before he passed away. His death was caused by a rupture in his heart's main blood vessel.
After losing his job at Princeton Hospital following the theft, Harvey moved the remains to Philadelphia. There, he carved the brain into 240 pieces and preserved them in celloidin—a hard, rubbery form of cellulose. He divided these pieces into two jars and kept them in his basement for years. He eventually secured a retroactive blessing for his actions from Einstein's son, Hans Albert. This agreement required that any future research be done strictly for scientific purposes.
The journey of the organ became increasingly eccentric. After his wife threatened to dispose of it, Harvey moved the brain to the Midwest. While working as a medical supervisor in Wichita, Kansas, he reportedly stored the remains in a cider box hidden under a beer cooler. He later moved to Missouri, where he practiced medicine but eventually lost his license in 1988. The pathologist lived in Weston during this period of his life. He spent his spare time attempting to analyze the organ while maintaining his medical practice.
Harvey finally settled in Lawrence, Kansas, where he worked at a plastic-extrusion factory. It was here that he befriended beat poet William Burroughs. The two men would meet for drinks on Burroughs's porch, where Harvey would recount stories of the brain and describe how he had sent chunks of it to researchers across the globe. He resided in a second-floor apartment located right next to a gas station. These meetings with Burroughs occurred regularly on the poet's front porch.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Stealing Einstein's Brain
- Also: The tragic story of how Einstein’s brain was stolen and wasn’t even special
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