Sigmund Freud Archives
Encyclopedia
The Sigmund Freud Archives mainly consist of a trove of documents housed at the US Library of Congress
and in the former residence of Sigmund Freud during the last year of his life at 20 Maresfield Gardens in northwest London. They were at the center of a complicated scandal which is described in Janet Malcolm
's book In the Freud Archives. Jeffrey Masson writes about it in Chapter Nine: "Disillusions" of his book Final Analysis.
, Ernst Kris
, Bertram Lewin and Hermann Nunberg
, decided to preserve Freud's letters and papers in a single archive. The Library of Congress, Dr. Eissler wrote, agreed in a legal "instrument" to accept as a donation all documents collected by the Archives, and to make them accessible to scholars. By the 1980s Dr. Eissler, with the help of Anna Freud
, had collected thousands of tapes, letters and papers for that archive. (An exhibition of parts of the collection was held at the Library of Congress last year and will be at the Jewish Museum this year.)
The Archives were founded in 1951 by Dr. Eissler and directed by him for decades. Dr. Eissler prevented many well-meaning scholars from seeing many Freud documents claiming confidentiality, even when their donors had not requested nor demanded that confidentiality, nor was anyone a potential victim of the revelation of those documents. In 1974 the 65-year-old Dr. Eissler met Dr. Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
(born 1941), a 33-year-old Sanskrit scholar and psychoanalyst, at a meeting of the American Psychoanalytic Association. Eissler took a liking to Masson, appointed him his secretary, and meant to make him his successor at the Archives. Being an officer of the Sigmund Freud Archives Masson had 'administrative access' to all documents in the Archives, he was allowed to see anything he wanted breaking the seal whenever necessary. In 1981 Dr. Masson, who was then the Projects Director of the Archives, delivered a paper to the Western New England Psychoanalytic Society in New Haven, Connecticut. Dr. Masson said that Freud had abandoned his seduction theory -- the idea that adult neurosis is caused by childhood sexual abuse—for personal rather than scientific reasons. By dropping the seduction theory, Dr. Masson concluded, "Freud began a trend away from the real world that, it seems to me, has come to a dead halt in the present-day sterility of psychoanalysis throughout the world." Dr. Eissler was deeply shocked ("Just today Masud Khan
called me from London and asked me to dismiss you from the Archives. The board members, all of them, or at least most of them, are asking for the same.") and sought to dismiss Dr. Masson from his job at the Archives, which led to bilateral legal action and a well-publicized scandal.
Masson was subsequently dismissed from his position as project director of the Freud Archives after a vote by the 13-member board of the Freud Archives - a nonprofit foundation controlling the vast public and private papers of Freud - not to renew Dr. Masson's contract as projects director for a second year starting in January.
The current director of the Archives is Dr. Harold P. Blum, a well-known psychoanalyst and scholar. Dr. Harold P. Blum succeeded Dr. Masson and Dr. Eissler as Executive Director of The Sigmund Freud Archives. The other current officers of The Sigmund Freud Archives are: Drs. Alexander Grinstein, President; Bernard L. Pacella, Secretary/Treasurer; and Sidney S. Furst.
Research
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
and in the former residence of Sigmund Freud during the last year of his life at 20 Maresfield Gardens in northwest London. They were at the center of a complicated scandal which is described in Janet Malcolm
Janet Malcolm
Janet Malcolm is an American writer and journalist on staff at The New Yorker magazine. She is the author of Psychoanalysis: The Impossible Profession , In the Freud Archives and The Journalist and the Murderer ....
's book In the Freud Archives. Jeffrey Masson writes about it in Chapter Nine: "Disillusions" of his book Final Analysis.
History
After World War II Dr. Kurt Eissler (1909–1999) and a small group of psychoanalysts who knew Sigmund Freud personally, including Heinz HartmannHartmann
Hartmann is a surname and may refer to:- People :* Erich Hartmann , German fighter ace* Ernst Hartmann , German medical doctor, author and publicist* Felix von Hartmann , Cardinal Archbishop of Köln...
, Ernst Kris
Kris
The kris or keris is an asymmetrical dagger or sword nowadays most strongly associated with the culture of Indonesia, but also indigenous to Malaysia, Southern Thailand and Brunei. It is known as kalis in the southern Philippines. The kris is famous for its distinctive wavy blade , but many have...
, Bertram Lewin and Hermann Nunberg
Hermann Nunberg
Hermann Nunberg was a psychoanalyst and neurologist who was born in Będzin, Poland. He earned his medical degree from the University of Zurich in 1910, and for a short time practiced psychiatry in Schaffhausen and Bern. In 1912 he taught classes at the university clinic in Krakow...
, decided to preserve Freud's letters and papers in a single archive. The Library of Congress, Dr. Eissler wrote, agreed in a legal "instrument" to accept as a donation all documents collected by the Archives, and to make them accessible to scholars. By the 1980s Dr. Eissler, with the help of Anna Freud
Anna Freud
Anna Freud was the sixth and last child of Sigmund and Martha Freud. Born in Vienna, she followed the path of her father and contributed to the newly born field of psychoanalysis...
, had collected thousands of tapes, letters and papers for that archive. (An exhibition of parts of the collection was held at the Library of Congress last year and will be at the Jewish Museum this year.)
The Archives were founded in 1951 by Dr. Eissler and directed by him for decades. Dr. Eissler prevented many well-meaning scholars from seeing many Freud documents claiming confidentiality, even when their donors had not requested nor demanded that confidentiality, nor was anyone a potential victim of the revelation of those documents. In 1974 the 65-year-old Dr. Eissler met Dr. Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
Dr. Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson is an American author, residing in New Zealand. Masson is best known for his conclusions about Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis...
(born 1941), a 33-year-old Sanskrit scholar and psychoanalyst, at a meeting of the American Psychoanalytic Association. Eissler took a liking to Masson, appointed him his secretary, and meant to make him his successor at the Archives. Being an officer of the Sigmund Freud Archives Masson had 'administrative access' to all documents in the Archives, he was allowed to see anything he wanted breaking the seal whenever necessary. In 1981 Dr. Masson, who was then the Projects Director of the Archives, delivered a paper to the Western New England Psychoanalytic Society in New Haven, Connecticut. Dr. Masson said that Freud had abandoned his seduction theory -- the idea that adult neurosis is caused by childhood sexual abuse—for personal rather than scientific reasons. By dropping the seduction theory, Dr. Masson concluded, "Freud began a trend away from the real world that, it seems to me, has come to a dead halt in the present-day sterility of psychoanalysis throughout the world." Dr. Eissler was deeply shocked ("Just today Masud Khan
Masud Khan
Mohammed Masud Raza Khan was an Indian-born British psychoanalyst. His training analyst was Donald Winnicott.-Early life:...
called me from London and asked me to dismiss you from the Archives. The board members, all of them, or at least most of them, are asking for the same.") and sought to dismiss Dr. Masson from his job at the Archives, which led to bilateral legal action and a well-publicized scandal.
Masson was subsequently dismissed from his position as project director of the Freud Archives after a vote by the 13-member board of the Freud Archives - a nonprofit foundation controlling the vast public and private papers of Freud - not to renew Dr. Masson's contract as projects director for a second year starting in January.
The current director of the Archives is Dr. Harold P. Blum, a well-known psychoanalyst and scholar. Dr. Harold P. Blum succeeded Dr. Masson and Dr. Eissler as Executive Director of The Sigmund Freud Archives. The other current officers of The Sigmund Freud Archives are: Drs. Alexander Grinstein, President; Bernard L. Pacella, Secretary/Treasurer; and Sidney S. Furst.
Literature
- Janet Malcolm: In the Freud Archives, New York, Knopf, 1984, ISBN 0394538692. Paperback edition, New York, Vintage Books, 1985, ISBN 0394729226. British edition, London, Papermac, 1997, ISBN 0333644719. New edition, with an afterword by the author, New York, New York Review Books, 2002, ISBN 159017027X.
- Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson: The assault on truth : Freud’s suppression of the seduction theory. New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1984, ISBN 0374106428.
- Sarah Boxer: Kurt Eissler, 90, Director Of Sigmund Freud Archives. The New York Times, Obituary, February 20, 1999.
- Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson: Final Analysis: The Making and Unmaking of A Psychoanalyst. Reading, Massachusetts, Addison-Wesley, 1990, ISBN 020152368X. Paperback edition, New York, Ballantine Books, 2003, ISBN 034545278X, GTIN 9780345452788.
See also
- Girindrasekhar BoseGirindrasekhar BoseGirindrasekhar Bose was an early 20th century South Asian psychoanalyst.Bose was the first president of the Indian Psychoanalytic Society.He carried on a twenty-year dialogue with Sigmund Freud...
- Janet MalcolmJanet MalcolmJanet Malcolm is an American writer and journalist on staff at The New Yorker magazine. She is the author of Psychoanalysis: The Impossible Profession , In the Freud Archives and The Journalist and the Murderer ....
- Jeffrey Moussaieff MassonJeffrey Moussaieff MassonDr. Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson is an American author, residing in New Zealand. Masson is best known for his conclusions about Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis...
- Peter Swales (historian)Peter Swales (historian)Peter J. Swales is a Welsh "guerilla historian of psychoanalysis", and former assistant to the Rolling Stones, who has written essays and letters about Sigmund Freud...
External links
- Website of the Sigmund Freud Archives, Inc.
- Freud Museum London
- Sigmund Freud and the Freud Archives The British Academy PORTAL
- The Sigmund Freud archive and the Freud exhibit at the Library of Congress
- Letter to the Library of Congress concerning the SFA dated July 31, 1995
Research