Leo Szilard Letters to Gertrud Weiss
Finding aid prepared by Special Collections & Archives
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, California, 92093-0175
858-534-2533
spcoll@ucsd.edu
Copyright 2010
Descriptive Summary
Title: Leo Szilard Letters to Gertrud Weiss
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0650
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, California, 92093-0175
Languages:
German
Physical Description:
0.4 Linear feet
(1 archives box)
Date (inclusive): 1937-1959
Abstract: The Leo Szilard Letters to Gertrud Weiss collection contains letters written between 1937 and 1959 from Szilard to Weiss.
The letters document the development of their relationship during this period and cover a variety of topics, including Szilard's
battle with cancer. There are also a small number of letters from other correspondents at the end of the collection. Letters
are primarily in German, with some in English.
Creator:
Szilard, Leo
Scope and Content of Collection
The Leo Szilard Letters to Gertrud Weiss collection contains letters written between 1937 and 1959 from Szilard to Weiss.
The letters document the development of their relationship during this period and cover a variety of topics, including Szilard's
battle with cancer. Szilard addresses Weiss by his nicknames for her: Trude, Child, and Ch, for short. Letters are arranged
chronologically. The last three folders in the box contain letters addressed to both Gertrud Weiss and Leo Szilard. Correspondents
include Louis Szilard, Leo Szilard's father; Szilard's brother Bela Szilard; Dr. Henry Hausner, nuclear metals expert and
Szilard's colleague; Dr. Robert Glaser of University of Colorado; Dr. Ben Liebovitz, friend who helped arrange Weiss's visas
and travel in the United Kingdom and the United States; and a small number of unidentified correspondents.
Letters are primarily in German, with some in English.
Related Materials
English translations of some of the German letters are available in the Lanouette/Szilard Papers, MSS 659, Special Collections
& Archives, UC San Diego. Translations were commissioned by William Lanouette, author of
Genius in the Shadows: A Biography of Leo Szilard, the Man Behind the Bomb, and conducted by Lanouette's research assistant Joseph Ernst.
Gertrude Weiss Szilard Papers, MSS 432. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Leo Szilard Papers, MSS 32. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Biography
Gertrud Weiss was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1909. She began studying medicine at the University of Vienna in the 1920s but
quit within the first four months to pursue travels in Berlin, where she met Szilard. After several years in Berlin, Szilard
convinced her to return to Vienna to pursue her degree in medicine, which Weiss completed in 1936. Compelled by the political
climate and Szilard's urgings, Weiss moved to London and then, in 1938, to New York City. There she worked in a hospital until
1950 when she moved to Denver to teach public health at the University of Colorado's Medical School.
During this time, Szilard's and Weiss's relationship was conducted almost entirely through letters. Szilard was uninterested
in marriage and it wasn't until 1951, when speculations on their relationship threatened Weiss's job, that they considered
marriage. They married on October 13, 1951, and Weiss took Szilard's name, though they often lived separately during the years
following.
In 1964, they moved together to La Jolla, California, where Szilard was offered a position at the Salk Institute. Szilard
died that same year.
After her husband's death, Gertrud Weiss Szilard collected and co-edited Szilard's papers, producing three volumes published
by MIT Press. Gertrud Weiss Szilard remained in California until her death in 1981.
Publishing Rights
Publishing rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Acquisition Information
Acquired 2004, and augmented in 2014.
Digital Content
The collection has been digitized with funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) and
can be viewed through links in the container list, or by clicking the link below.
Preferred Citation
Leo Szilard Letters to Gertrud Weiss, MSS 650. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Szilard, Gertrud Weiss -- Archives
Szilard, Gertrud Weiss -- Correspondence
Szilard, Leo -- Archives
Szilard, Leo -- Correspondence
Box 1, Folder 15
Financial documents and related correspondence
1954-1955
Financial documents and related correspondence, 1954-1955
Box 1, Folder 22
Other correspondents
1937-1944
Other correspondents, 1937-1944
Box 1, Folder 23
Other correspondents
1948-1953
Other correspondents, 1948-1953
Box 1, Folder 24
Other correspondents
1954-1959
Other correspondents, 1954-1959
