From weaselzipper.com
“Everyone assumes I’m filthy rich, and they think I have a mental problem because I’m not using my money,” Albert Einstein’s granddaughter, Evelyn Einstein, told The Post. When the iconic genius died in 1955 at age 76, he bequeathed the literary rights in his estate to Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The school later trademarked Einstein’s name, and last year alone made $10 million from licensing fees. Evelyn, 69, and in poor health, said she never knew how much her grandfather’s name was worth until 2008, when Forbes magazine released its list of highest-earning deceased celebrities.”
Can you imagine how cheap you have to be to make ten million dollars in a year from Albert Einstein’s name and not give, say a lousy hundred thousand to poor Evelyn Einstein? And, maybe give a little bit to a couple of other relatives who could use the money.
Nope. Not the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. That’s the nice thing about a big university. They have people on staff who will profess, and then justify, anything. They know that their own promotions will be accelerated if they can make their employer’s greed and selfishness seem not merely reasonable, but necessary.
The name “Hebrew” comes from Eber, an early figure in the Old Testament. It is a shame that Eber or his children didn’t think to trademark his name. If they had, they could charge The Hebrew University of Jerusalem a usage fee. Maybe, somewhere in the clay tablets piled up where the Babylonian Patent Office used to be, such a document exists.
