Havana Cuba. – On December 19, 1930, the German physicist Albert Einstein was passing through Havana. The journey, which was to end in the US city of San Diego, had started in Antwerp, Belgium, and stopped for approximately 30 hours in the Cuban capital.
Accompanied by his wife, Elsa, the father of the atomic bomb got off the steamer Belgenland with the urge to buy a hat to protect himself from the intense tropical heat. He was taken without delay to the exclusive El Encanto store, whose manager gave him the elegant jipijapa with which he agreed to have his portrait taken in the establishment itself, as a courtesy.
The photographer Gonzalo Lobo was in charge of recording the passage through Havana of the eminent scientist, who also visited the Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural Sciences, where he received a solemn tribute and shared with prestigious academics, scientists and engineers of the country.
Einstein’s busy schedule included a meeting with the Jewish community in Cuba, a lunch at the Plaza Hotel, a tour that included, among other places of interest, the Country Club, the Havana Yacht Club, the Industrial Technical School, the airport of Rancho Boyeros and the Vento Aqueduct works. The visit to the University of Havana could not materialize because the house of high studies had become a niche for rebellion against the Government of Gerardo Machado; therefore, it was closed by presidential decree.
Fatigue after a day of intense hustle and bustle did not allow the creator of the Theory of Relativity to spend the night at the dazzling Hotel Nacional, which was about to open. Having politely declined the official invitation, Einstein preferred to sleep on board the Belgenland, docked in the port of Havana.
The next day, he asked to see the humble areas of the city. It was a shocking experience for the physicist, who recorded his impressions in his journal: “Luxurious clubs next to atrocious poverty, which mainly affects people of color.”
Ninety-two years have passed since that visit to Havana. If Albert Einstein could come back today, he would think exactly the same thing; only instead of clubs, he would speak of “luxurious hotels.”
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