Karl Abraham: Life and Work, a Biography

473 Pages·2016·15 MB·English

by  Anna Bentinck van Schoonheten

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KARL ABRAHAM
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The History of Psychoanalysis Series
Professor Brett Kahr and Professor Peter L. Rudnytsky (Series Editors)
Published and distributed by Karnac Books
Other titles in the Series
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edited by Peter L. Rudnytsky and Gillian Preston
Rescuing Psychoanalysis from Freud and Other Essays in Re-Vision
by Peter L. Rudnytsky
Ferenczi and His World: Rekindling the Spirit of the Budapest School
edited by Judit Szekacs-Weisz and Tom Keve
Freud in Zion: Psychoanalysis and the Making of Modern Jewish Identity
by Eran J. Ronik
Ferenczi for Our Time: Theory and Practice
edited by Judit Szekacs-Weisz and Tom Keve
The Clinic and the Context: Historical Essays
by Elisabeth Young-Bruehl
Sandor Ferenczi–Ernest Jones: Letters 1911–1933
edited by Ferenc Eros, Judit Szekacs-Weisz, and Ken Robinson
The Milan Seminar: Clinical Applications of Attachment Theory
by John Bowlby, edited by Marco Bacciagaluppi
Ferenczi and Beyond: Exile of the Budapest School and Solidarity in the
Psychoanalytic Movement during the Nazi Years
by Judit Mészáros
Looking Through Freud’s Photographs
by Michael Molnar
Psychoanalytic Filiations: Mapping the Psychoanalytic Movement
by Ernst Falzeder
The Abandonment Neurosis
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The Life and Times of Franz Alexander: From Budapest to California
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KARL ABRAHAM
Life and Work, a Biography
Anna Bentinck van Schoonheten
Translated from the Dutch by
Liz Waters
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First published in Dutch as Karl Abraham: Freuds rots in de branding
© Garant, Antwerp, 2013
First published in English in 2016 by
Karnac Books Ltd
118 Finchley Road, London NW3 5HT
Copyright © 2016 to Anna Bentinck van Schoonheten.
The right of Anna Bentinck van Schoonheten to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted in accordance with §§ 77 and 78 of the Copyright Design and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Translated by Liz Waters
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A C.I.P. for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978 1 78220 184 7
Edited, designed and produced by The Studio Publishing Services Ltd
www.publishingservicesuk.co.uk
e-mail: [email protected]
Printed in Great Britain
www.karnacbooks.com
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CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix
ABOUT THE AUTHOR xi
ABBREVIATIONS xiii
SERIES EDITOR’S FOREWORD xv
INTRODUCTION xxi
CHAPTER ONE
Childhood in Bremen 1
CHAPTER TWO
Student years 11
CHAPTER THREE
Doctor’s assistant in Dalldorf 19
CHAPTER FOUR
Burghölzli 27
CHAPTER FIVE
The first meetings between Freud and staff from the Burghölzli Clinic 39
CHAPTER SIX
A private practice and the first psychoanalytic conflict 49
v
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vi CONTENTS
CHAPTER SEVEN
Psychoanalysis in Berlin 65
CHAPTER EIGHT
Segantiniand depression 81
CHAPTER NINE
A meeting with Fließ, family life, and the failed Habilitation 93
CHAPTER TEN
Akhenaten 107
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The secret committee 117
CHAPTER TWELVE
An unhappy writer, scopophilia, and other peculiarities 125
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The First World War 135
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
A great turnaround 141
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Creation of a theory about early childhood and ejaculatio praecox 149
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The final war years in Allenstein 161
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The congress in Budapest of 1918 169
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Germany in chaos, yet the creation of a psychoanalytic 175
polyclinic in Berlin goes ahead
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The congress in The Hague from 8 to 11 September 1920 187
CHAPTER TWENTY
The issue of lay analysis and Abraham in a tight corner 199
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Psychoanalysis flourishes in Berlin 207
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Unrest in Germany and a successful congress in Berlin 215
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CONTENTS vii
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Young talent pours in 225
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Psychoanalytic techniques and Helene Deutsch 231
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Innovative work 245
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The conflict surrounding Rank and the disintegration of the committee 259
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Melanie Klein and fellow analysands 277
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Abraham’s death 291
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Upheaval 313
Afterword 321
SOURCES 331
INTERVIEWS 333
NOTES 335
REFERENCES 411
INDEX 425
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The writing of this book would not have been possible without the help of friends, colleagues,
and the staffs of archives in many countries, since the archives of psychoanalysts have become
dispersed around the world.
First of all I would like to thank the late Professor Dr Gerhard Fichtner, who received me
with great hospitality in Tübingen, familiarised me with the history of psychoanalysis, and was
always ready to advise and assist. Unfortunately, he did not live to see the book completed.
Dr Bettina Decke invited me to stay in her house and showed me around Bremen, Karl
Abraham’s native city. Her research into his childhood years was of great importance for this
book.
It was Dr Marion de Ras who suggested that I should gain a doctorate. I had many discus-
sions about Abraham with her and she provided a critical commentary on my texts on the
subject.
Thanks also to Karl Abraham’s relatives, Lottie Levy-Abraham (who died in 2012), Anja
Amsel, and Steven Burgner. We had long conversations in London and Edinburgh about the
fortunes of the Abrahams and the Burgners (the family of Abraham’s wife). I would also like
to thank Jeremy Lewison, son of Hilda Abraham’s good friend Dinora Pines, for the informa-
tion he gave me.
I am grateful to Dr Arnold Enklaar, who suggested writing a book about Karl Abraham,
Henry Strick van Linschoten in London, who provided critical remarks, Ursula Heyl-Keese for
her transcriptions from Sütterlin script, and Anne Folkertsma for a meticulous final edit of the
Dutch edition.
I would also like to thank the following for their advice and contributions: Deirdre Bair
(New Haven), Pieter van den Berg, Anne Birkenhauer (Jerusalem), Dr Gabriela Bosch of the
Military History Research Office (Potsdam), Dr Gertie Bögels, Emile Brugman, Dr Leonardo
Bruno of the LoC (Washington), Wolfgang zu Castell-Castell (Castell), Joyce and Richard
ix