Jerusalem, Israel – June 3rd 2015 – A 2.5-meter-tall bronze statue of Albert Einstein was unveiled today on the Edmond J. Safra campus of Hebrew University in Jerusalem in front of the National Library and next to the departments of mathematics and physics.

The monument was designed by world renowned sculptor Georgy Frangulyan and highlights the deep historic relationship between Albert Einstein and the Hebrew University as well as marks the 100th anniversary of the publishing of the General Theory of Relativity, the 60th anniversary of Einstein’s death, and the 90th anniversary of the Hebrew University’s dedication ceremony. Einstein was a founder of the Hebrew University and one of its most loyal supporters, bequeathing the university his writings, intellectual heritage and the rights to his image.

The idea to construct the statue was initiated by Mark Zilberquit, noted author and President of the Heritage Projects and Tchaikovsky International Charity Foundations. Also involved in the statue’s construction were a number of leaders of Russian and American Jewish communities, including distinguished Russian-American philanthropist Leonard Blavatnik, Israeli businessman Aaron Frenkel, and well-known pianist Evgeny Kissin. The project was also executed through collaboration between the Israeli Embassy in Moscow led by Ambassador Dorit Golender, the Israeli Russian Business Council, the Heritage Projects Foundation, the Tchaikovsky International Charity Foundation, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Professor Albert Einstein was born in 1879 in Germany eventually immigrating to the US where he taught Advanced Physics at Princeton University. A supporter of the Zionist idea, he was offered Israel’s presidency and was among the founders of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where he served on the Board of Governors, chaired the Academic Committee, and gave the first scientific lecture of the University.

Einstein willed his personal archives and the rights to his works to the University and most of his writings are located on the Edmond J. Safra Campus, including his publication of the Theory of Relativity, E=mc2.