Michele Besso is one of Einstein’s closest friend’s, and they cultivate their friendship throughout their entire lives. They meet each other while studying in Zurich, where Besso is studying machine construction. Both of them become colleagues at the Swiss Federal Patent Office in Bern, where they continue their intensive discussions about the principles of physics.

These conversations are the crucial motivation for Einstein’s work on the Special Relativity Theory. While there is no academic reference to his friend and colleague, M. Besso is acknowledged in this work.

Besso supports Einstein in his work on the General Relativity Theory by calculating the perihelion rotation of Mercury, and working on conceptual problems.