Albert Einstein: "On Reporters". Berlin, 10 August 1921.

Archival Call No. 28-11.

Published in The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Vol. 7, Doc. 61, pp. 442-444.

Original (German)	Translation (English)	Full Resolution

Albert Einstein became a household name in Europe and the U.S. in November 1919 following the verification of his general theory of relativity by the British astronomer, Sir Arthur Eddington. Sensationalist reports about the new "Copernicus" were published in the press. From that moment on, Einstein's every utterance and every trip were reported in great detail by journalists around the world. In June 1921, Einstein gave an interview to a Dutch newspaper which included a number of disparaging comments about life in the United States. The interview was translated into German and English and published in Germany and the U.S. and caused an uproar. Following the unfavorable reception in the United States of the interview, Einstein placed a note in the Berlin daily Berliner Tageblatt, claiming that the interview contained "flagrant distortions". In this document presented here, Einstein comments in a humorous manner on the manner in which the interviewee's statements are changed out of all recognition by the interviewer.