Description
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.
Background
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.