Evelyn Hunt

Ms. Freestone
English 11
March 16, 2015
Nikola Tesla: A Pigeon Stole His Heart

Nikola Tesla was an incredible inventor; he created many wonders throughout his life,
despite being overshadowed by Thomas Edison for all of history. He is the reason we have such
modern marvels as alternating current electricity, Tesla coils, x-rays, radios (though someone else
was credited with those), the electric chair, a death ray, and so much more. But that isnt what
Im currently interested in. Im more intrigued with his personal life. It is known that Tesla was
never married and was celibate his entire life. Most people informed on the subject consider him
to be asexual, though initially I couldnt confirm this because the schools internet has
asexuality.org blocked. Due to this restriction, I was forced to try other sources. One such source
led me to the information that Nikola Tesla was in love with a pigeon. Of course, this tidbit
sparked a deep curiosity within me to find more information. In this search, I want to explore
such topics as the pigeons name, how he came across it, the pigeons gender, perhaps a photo,
and how society around him received his relationship with a small bird.
I began my research by just googling the topic. This led me to a bunch of different
articles that basically just stated the same information over and over again. Most of the articles
briefly touched on his pigeon love, but not many went into detail. Most of my questions were
answered in the end, though I will continue to research this topic when more resources become
available to me. Nikola Tesla spent a lot of his time in his later years feeding pigeons in the park
and around his various hotels. One website mentioned, at one point, he had a really bad injury

that prevented him from feeding his pigeons, as he did regularly and so he hired a messenger to
take over his duties. (Wikipedia) Nikola often brought sick or injured pigeons back to his hotel to
care for them. One source mentioned that Tesla spent more than $2,000 to fix the birds broken
wing and leg, including building a device that comfortably supported the bird so her bones could
heal. (Deffree). The pigeon was female, she was white with gray tipped wings, and as far as I
could tell, society either didnt know or didnt care. Those who knew about it seemed to be pretty
cool with it.
Nikola Tesla spoke to his friend John ONeil about his love for pigeons on a couple
different occasions. I found some pretty great quotes about his relationship, though I cant find
original sources, so Im really not sure how legitimate they are. Tesla said I loved her as a man
loves a woman, and she loved me. Their relationship was very real, at least on Teslas end. As
an asexual man, nothing icky happened, but on the romantic end, it was a very real relationship.
When the pigeon died, all of Nikolas will to live died with her. He had no more desire to
continue his work. As Tesla recounted it, One night as I was lying in my bed in the dark,
solving problems, as usual, she flew in through the open window and stood on my desk. I knew
she wanted me; she wanted to tell me something important, so I got up and went to her. As I
looked at her I knew she wanted to tell me - she was dying. And then, as I got her message,
there came a light from her eyes - powerful beams of light... a light more intense than I had
ever produced by the most powerful lamps in my laboratory. When that pigeon died, something
went out of my life. Up to that time I knew with a certainty that I would complete my work, no
matter how ambitious my program, but when that something went out of my life I knew my
lifes work was finished. (Bird, Nichelson).

I tried to find a few more real sources, and tried exploring the library for a couple more
references. Unfortunately, I didnt find much. The main branch of the Salt Lake City library
contained one copy of a childrens biography about Nikola Tesla. It didnt really contain much
relevant information to my topic, which isnt really surprising.
Next, I turned to interviewing my peers. One classmate, Holly Packard, said that she too
shared a love of pigeons. Several people agreed, saying that she could very reasonably end up
living in a hotel room full of pigeons. Sage Fisher stated he would definitely consider a romantic
relationship with a pigeon "as long as it doesn't bite me. So, we can conclude that this lifestyle
is both realistic and desirable.
To summarize, Nikola Tesla loved his pigeon very much. This topic helped me learn a lot
and I really enjoyed researching it. I was really excited to learn that Nikola Tesla was an asexual
man, because there isnt really any representation for asexual people. Pigeons are super rad and
Tesla was a person I admired to begin with. Overall, this paper was a great experience.

Works Cited
"Why Doesn't Everyone Know Who Nikola Tesla Was?" BBC News. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-19503846>.

Web. 10 Mar. 2015. <https://claudiears.wordpress.com/2011/10/01/nikola-tesla-and-thepigeon-love-story/>.

Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla#Later_years_.281918.E2.80.931943.29>.
"9 Things You May Not Know About Nikola Tesla." History.com. A&E Television Networks,
9 Sept. 2014. Web. 10 Mar. 2015. <http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/9-things-youmay-not-know-about-nikola-tesla>.
Deffree, Suzanne. "10 Things You May Not Know about Tesla." EDN. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.edn.com/electrical-engineer-community/industry-blog/4410028/5/10-things-youmay-not-know-about-Tesla>.
Bird, Christopher, and Oliver Nichelson. "Nikola Tesla - Great Scientist, Forgotten Genius."
Nikola Tesla - Great Scientist, Forgotten Genius. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/tesla/esp_tesla_26.htm>.