Book Editor: Klara Naszkowska, PhD | Discussant: Rosemary Balsam, MD

This book discussion is dedicated to filling a hole in the history of women pioneers of psychoanalysis. Their groundbreaking contributions to the nascent field notwithstanding, their biographies have been largely and systematically erased from the historical narrative. Klara Naszkowska will draw on the anthology that she edited, Early Women Psychoanalysts: History, Biography, and Contemporary Relevance (Routledge, 2024), to provide an introduction to their lives and legacies as a collective force. Her lecture will be illuminated by an in-depth exploration of the story of Sabina Spielrein. The emphasis is on the sociopolitical circumstances and historical developments that affected these women psychoanalyst’s lives, career choices, and paths, centering on the themes of gender, Jewishness, women’s education, the rise of autocracies, and forced migration. Following the lecture, commentary will be provided by Rosemary Balsam, a psychiatrist-psychoanalyst who has written extensively about gender, early women psychoanalysts, and their contributions.

CE