Tragic figures

[vijay_brat]

Sentence: It is a picture of a man who can, without exaggeration, be called one of the tragic figures of our time.

Source: Einstein- The life and time

I looked up the thesaurus and learnt that "tragic" means disastrous/calamitous.

What does tragic figure in the given sentence from Einstein's book mean?

Regards
Vijay

 

[perpend]

It's hard to explain but "tragic" is not all that far from "tragedy", if you see what I mean.

But, context lacks a bit, since we don't know what the writer is intending to say.

 

[vijay_brat]

Here is the full context.

Einstein is certain to get even more critical study as the deeper implications of his work continue to be investigated. And few can read his correspondence - whose publication is long overdue - without feeling that Einstein's wit is worth a slim volume on its own. < --- >

But something more than these specialist portraits, each with Einstein at the center of a technical argument, emerges from digging hard into the documents, and from a critical appraisal of the myth and reminiscence which have grown around his memory in the last two or three decades. It is the picture of a man who can, without exaggeration, be called one of the great tragic figures of our time.


< --- > Sentence removed to comply with 4-sentence limit on quotation. Cagey, moderator.

 

[perpend]

Thanks for more context, vijay.

That will help others to figure this out.

From your added context, I would say this (it may not help):
Einstein was a tragic figure.
JFK was a tragic figure.
John Lennon was a tragic figure.

In the case of Einstein, it was in a different way, but it's about the term "tragic figure".

 

[vijay_brat]

I must thank this platform for helping out people improve their language. And it is my pleasure to provide as much inputs as I can to have it clarified "perpend."

Thanks for your answer.

Vijay