The Israeli Government today approved the creation of a museum dedicated to the Jewish physicist Albert Einstein on one of the campuses of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, with a budget of 18 million dollars.
The museum will be erected on the Safra campus of the Hebrew University, in the Givat Ram neighborhood in West Jerusalem, where the writings and archives that the physicist bequeathed to that teaching center at his death are currently kept, the university reported in a statement.
This is a project that has been discussed in Israel for more than a decade.
"Today, while the academic year begins in the country, we approve in the Government this important resolution that will strengthen the academy in Israel, its capital and the Hebrew University, by housing an Albert Einstein Museum that will collect all his work", said the minister of Construction and Housing, Zeev Elkin.
In addition to tracing his life and work, with his vital contribution to advances in the field of physics, the museum will explore "Einstein's deep connection to the destiny of the Jewish people, the State of Israel and the Hebrew University, of which He was a founder."
"Visitors will be able to enjoy a reconstruction of Einstein's office and library, and see some of his original scientific papers and writings," the Hebrew University says.
"The legacy of research and academic excellence of Albert Einstein, one of the main supporters of Israel and one of the founders of this university, is present in each of the pillars of this institution," said the president of the Hebrew University, Asher Cohen.
Einstein, a Jew born in Germany, is considered one of the great scientists of all time and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 for his theory of relativity, which revolutionized the way of understanding the relationship between movement, space and time, as well as as for his contributions in quantum mechanics.
With the rise of the Nazis to power in 1933, he moved to the United States, where he taught at Princeton University (New Jersey), until his death in 1955 at the age of 76.
However, Einstein was closely linked to Israel since the birth of the new State in 1948 and, after the death of its first president, Chaim Weizmann, in 1952, the physicist was offered the position, who declared himself "deeply moved" by the offer, but turned it down as lacking "objective experience" and "natural aptitude" for the position.
