Karl Abraham

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Karl Abraham (3 May, 1877 - 25 December, 1925) was an early German psychoanalyst, and a correspondent of Sigmund Freud, who called him his 'best pupil.'[1] He founded the Berlin Psychoanalytic Institute, and was the president of the International Psychoanalytical Association from 1914 to 1918 and again in 1925.

Life

Karl Abraham was born in Bremen into a well-to-do, well established, and highly cultyred Jewish family, in 1877. His father gave up being a teacher of Hebrew religion for economic reasons, ans Karl early abandoned the Jewish faith. His writings reflect no interest in religion, this being in marked contrast to his friend and mentor, Sigmund Freud. Thereafter he became deeply interested in philology and linguistics, and he learned to speak five languages, read several others, and even analysed some patients in English.

Work

Following the standard German preparatory education Abraham received his medical degree from the University of Freiburg, in 1901.

Karl Abraham's first position was at Burgholzi Mental Hospital in Zurich.

Karl Abraham collaborated with Freud on the understanding of manic-depressive illness, leading to Freud's paper on Mourning and Melancholia in 1917. He was the analyst of Melanie Klein during 1924-1925, and of a number of other British psychoanalysts, including Edward Glover, James Glover, and Alix Strachey. He was a mentor for an influential group of German analysts, including Karen Horney, Helene Deutsch, and Franz Alexander.

Legacy

Karl Abraham is a pioneer of German Psychoanalysis. He founded the Berlin Society of Psychoanalysis in 1908.

Quotes

  • A considerable number of persons are able to protect themselves against the outbreak of serious neurotic phenomena only through intense work.

Publications

Notes

  1. Frequently Asked Questions Freud Museum Retrieved August 21, 2007.

References
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External links


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