Two exhibitions in Palazzo Medici Riccardi, that narrate a sad and little-known story:

The Einstein family in and near Florence. The tragedy of a family and Family Album. Diary of a little girl during Fascism.

These are the titles of the exhibitions which the Florentine Provincial Authority dedicates to the in-depth study, from a historical and artistic point of view, of a private matter having significant public implications.

Robert Einstein, the cousin of the more famous Albert, lived in Florence with his wife and their two daughters; he also had a house in the country, Il Focardo, at Troghi, in the vicinity of Rignano sull'Arno

The Einstein family was massacred by Nazi soldiers at Troghi, on August 3, 1944; Robert escaped the massacre but, unable to bear his sorrow, committed suicide the year after.

Robert and Albert Einstein were first cousins. Nazi Germany nourished a particular aversion toward the German scientist, the symbol of the anti-Nazi and Jewish opposition that had emigrated to America, and the massacre was a way to cause Einstein overwhelming pain and grief.
he exhibition displays many documents such as the letters between  the scientist Albert and his cousin Robert, the correspondence of Albert with Benedetto Croce on the meaning of the war (from the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale); the letter in which Robert Einstein announces his suicide to the manager of the Focardo estate; the period photographs that narrate life at the Villa Il Focardo, in the countryside of Rignano sull’Arno; anti-Fascism in the Florentine Valdarno area.

Around the Einstein family, a very refined and lively cultural and artistic environment was created. The frequent visits of artists such as Gino Severini and Giacomo Balla, of eminent figures such as Alfredo Merlini and Francesco Berti, or of exponents of European culture, then in conflict with the ruling Nazism and Fascism, such as the daughter of Thomas Mann, made the Einstein home a warm and welcoming meeting-place for intellectuals and free spirits. 

The exhibition also narrates events in the lives of the anti-Fascists of Rignano.
The second exhibition, instead, expresses a more private side, telling about life under Nazi-Fascisim through the eyes of a little girl. Eighty watercolours by Lorenza Mazzetti, niece of Robert Einstein and witness and only survivor – together with her twin sister Paola – of the tragedy of the Einstein family in the Tuscany of 1944.

The captions for the paintings are delightful:
“This is a portrait of Uncle Robert's cousin, Maja's brother. His name is Albert Einstein. He lives in America and when he's there, he works as a scientist, and when he comes here, he goes on the swing”.
 

From 27 January to 19 February
Palazzo Medici Riccardi - Via Cavour 3, Florence
Sale Istituto Storico della Resistenza
Opening hours: from 10am to 12 noon and from 4pm to 7pm;
from Monday to Friday – closed Wednesday
Admission free