  One can get the impression from the Reissner-Nordstrom solution of Einstein's
equations that the charge of a body reduces its gravitational field. This looks
surprising since the energy of the electrostatic field surrounding a charged
body, must contribute positively, as an additional, "electromagnetic mass", to
the gravitational field produced by the body. We resolve this puzzle by showing
that the mass M in the Reissner-Nordstrom solution is not the "bare mass" of
the body, but its "renormalized mass". I. e. M, in addition to the bare mass,
includes the total electromagnetic mass of the body. But at finite distances
from the body only a part of the electromagnetic mass contributes to the
gravitational field. That is why the gravity of a charged body is determined by
the quantity smaller than M.
