During a visit in 1931, Albert Einstein became so enamored by California that he spent three consecutive winters here.

The shaggy-haired genius was initially lured to Caltech in Pasadena by Arthur Fleming, a lumber baron and president of the university’s board of trustees. His arrival in San Diego after 30 days at sea was a spectacle, with serenading school children and a mob of reporters and photographers.

Ensconced with his wife Elsa in a Pasadena bungalow, Einstein befriended Charlie Chaplin, played his violin with the L.A. Philharmonic’s conductor, and refined his theory of relativity at Mount Wilson Observatory. He was smitten, writing to friends in 1931, “Here in Pasadena, it is like Paradise. Always sunshine and clear air, gardens with palms and pepper trees and friendly people.”

By the winter of 1933, with anti-Semitism swirling through Europe, it became evident that Einstein needed a safe haven. Caltech seemed to be a perfect fit, and the university recruited him aggressively.

But, according to several accounts, campus leaders bungled the negotiation, offering him a paltry sum and rejecting his request that a position be created for his assistant. He went instead to Princeton, where he shared the secrets of the universe until his death in 1955.

Below, a few more pictures from Einstein’s Pasadena days.

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