Nikola Tesla spent much time learning to exert self-control over his will. Once an addicted gambler, he worked hard to rid himself of that destructive desire. Not leaving a trace of desire apparently extended to his views on marriage and celibacy.
The late William H. Terbo (the son of Tesla’s sister’s son) once suggested that “womanizing” may have contributed in part to Tesla never completing his studies in Graz. Yet despite the opinion of a professional palmist, who opined that Tesla’s hand revealed “a flirtatious streak,” Tesla purposefully chose celibacy throughout his life. This did not stop the media of the time (even the technical journals) from urging him to get married—after all, “important people were expected to procreate for the good of the country.” As young science writer and close friend Kenneth Swezey later put it, “Tesla’s only marriage has been to his work and to the world…he believes…that the most enduring works of achievement have come from childless men…” Swezey described Tesla as “an absolute celibate.” Tesla himself claimed that to be a great inventor one must not allow himself to be distracted by love. When asked if he believed in marriage, he replied that:
“for an artist, yes; for a musician, yes; for a writer, yes; but for an inventor, no. The first three must gain inspiration from a woman’s influence and be led by their love to finer achievement, but an inventor has so intense a nature with so much in it of wild, passionate quality, that in giving himself to a woman he might love, he would give everything, and so take everything from his chosen field. I do not think you can name many great inventions that have been made by married men.”
While rumors abounded over Tesla’s relationship with Katharine Johnson, wife of The Century editor (and Sierra Club co-founder) Robert Underwood Johnson, he never did marry, hence why his grandnephew William Terbo was so active in keeping Tesla’s name alive.
[Adapted from my book, Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity]
Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America is available at booksellers nationwide.
Limited signed copies are available via this website. The book also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. Please leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon if you like the book.
You also follow my author page on Facebook.
David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.
His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.
