Siegfried Bernfeld Papers
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Siegfried Bernfeld Papers A Finding Aid to the Collection in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 2012 Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact Additional search options available at: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms013043 LC Online Catalog record: http://lccn.loc.gov/mm75041897 Prepared by C. Langston Craig Collection Summary Title: Siegfried Bernfeld Papers Span Dates: 1854-1975 Bulk Dates: (bulk 1930-1953) ID No.: MSS41897 Creator: Bernfeld, Siegfried, 1892-1953 Extent: 6,000 items ; 22 containers ; 8.8 linear feet Language: Collection material in English and German, with some French Location: Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Summary: Psychoanalyst, biologist, and student and associate of Sigmund Freud. Correspondence, writings, reports, minutes of meetings, research files, and printed material relating to Bernfeld's career as a psychoanalyst in Europe and America and to the study of Sigmund Freud by Bernfeld and his wife, Suzanne Casirer Bernfeld. Selected Search Terms The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein. People Adams, Leslie, 1902- --Correspondence. Alexander, Franz, 1891- --Correspondence. Barrett, William G.--Correspondence. Bernfeld, Manfred--Correspondence. Bernfeld, Siegfried, 1892-1953. Federn, Paul. Paul Federn writings. Feitelberg, Sergei, 1905-1967--Correspondence. Fenichel, Otto--Correspondence. Fenichel, Otto. Otto Fenichel writings. Fliess, Wilhelm, 1858-1928--Correspondence. Freud, Sigmund, 1856-1939--Correspondence. Geiringer, Hilda, 1893-1973--Correspondence. Gicklhorn, Josef, 1891-1957--Correspondence. Goldmann, Fritz--Correspondence. Hoffer, Willi--Correspondence. Jekels, Ludwig, 1867-1954--Correspondence. Jones, Ernest, 1879-1958--Correspondence. Jones, Ernest, 1879-1958. Ernest Jones writings. Kamm, Bernard A. (Bernard August), 1899- --Correspondence. Kohn, Hans, 1891-1971--Correspondence. Kris, Ernst, 1900-1957--Correspondence. Lampl, Hans--Correspondence. Olden, Rudolf, 1885-1940--Correspondence. Puner, Helen W. (Helen Walker), 1915- --Correspondence. Rank, Otto, 1884-1939--Correspondence. Reik, Theodor, 1888-1969--Correspondence. Sachs, Hanns, 1881-1947--Correspondence. Silberer, Herbert, 1882-1922. Herbert Silberer writings. Simmel, Ernst, 1882-1947--Correspondence. Spitz, René A. (René Arpad), 1887-1974--Correspondence. Stern, William, 1871-1938--Correspondence. Viereck, George Sylvester, 1884-1962--Correspondence. Waldinger, Ernst, 1896- --Correspondence. Wyneken, Gustav, 1875- Gustav Wyneken writings. Siegfried Bernfeld Papers 2 Wyneken, Gustav, 1875- --Correspondence. Organizations San Francisco Psychoanalytic Group. Wiener Psychoanalytische Vereinigung. Subjects Consciousness. Education. Educational change. Human behavior. Jewish youth--Societies and clubs. Mathematics. Psychoanalysis--Societies, etc. Psychoanalysis--Standards. Psychoanalysis. Psychology. Socialism. Topology. Occupations Biologists. Psychoanalysts. Administrative Information Provenance The papers of Siegfried Bernfeld, psychoanalyst, biologist, and student and associate of Sigmund Freud, were given to the Library of Congress by his daughters, Rosemarie Ostwald and Ruth Goldberg, in 1970. Small additions were given by others, 1976-1979. Processing History The collection was processed in 1975 and revised and expanded in 1985 with the transfer of material removed from the Sigmund Freud Collection. The finding aid was revised in 2012. Related Material Related collections in the Manuscript Division include the papers of Sigmund Freud in the Sigmund Freud Collection. Copyright Status Copyright in the unpublished writings of Siegfried Bernfeld in these papers and in other collections in the custody of the Library of Congress is reserved. Consult reference staff in the Manuscript Division for further information. Access and Restrictions The Bernfeld Papers are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use. Preferred Citation Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Siegfried Bernfeld Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Siegfried Bernfeld Papers 3 Biographical Note Date Event 1892, May 7 Born, Lvov (Lemburg), Galicia 1913 Member, Wiener Psychoanalytischer Vereinigung 1913-1914 Coeditor, Der Anfang 1914 Published Die Neue Jugend und die Frauen 1915 Ph.D., biology and psychology, Vienna, Austria 1918-1919 Contributor, Jerubbaal 1922-1925 Practicing psychoanalyst under Freud, and instructor, Psychoanalytic Institute, Vienna, Austria 1925 Published Psychologie des Säuglings. Wien: J. Springer; published in 1929 as The Psychology of the Infant, translated by Rosetta Hurwitz. New York: Brentano's Published Sisyphos, oder die Grenzen der Erziehung. Leipzig: Internationaler Psychoanalytischer Verlag; published in 1973 as Sisyphus; or, the Limits of Education, translated by Frederic Lilge. Berkeley: University of California Press 1925-1932 Instructor, Psychoanalytic Institute, Berlin, Germany 1930-1932 Personal analysis with Hanns Sachs 1932-1934 Training analyst and lecturer, Berlin, Germany circa 1934 Married Suzanne Aimée Cassirer Paret (died 1963) 1934-1936 Resided in Menton, France 1937 Practicing psychoanalyst, London, England 1937-1953 Practicing psychoanalyst, lecturer, instructor, and training analyst, San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute and University of California Medical School, San Francisco, Calif. 1953, Apr. 2 Died, San Francisco, Calif. Scope and Content Note The papers of Siegfried Bernfeld (1892-1953) cover the period 1854-1975, although the bulk of the collection dates from 1930 to 1953, the date of Bernfeld's death. In general, the papers before 1936 are in German; those after that date are in English. Virtually all of the papers after 1945 are in English, though some correspondence as well as source material collected after that time is in German. Included in addition to correspondence are writings, reports, minutes of meetings, research files, printed matter, and other material.The Bernfeld Papers consist of six series: Family Correspondence, General Correspondence, Professional File, Writings and Related Material, Sigmund Freud Biographical Material, and Miscellany. Because Bernfeld trained under Sigmund Freud and became a member of the psychoanalytic community in Vienna, and since almost half of the papers represent the research of Siegfried and his wife, Suzanne Casirer Bernfeld, on Sigmund Freud, these papers complement the Sigmund Freud Papers. They provide source material for studies of the history of Siegfried Bernfeld Papers 4 psychology and psychoanalytic theory, the psychoanalytic movement in Europe and the United States, and the Jewish youth movement of the early twentieth century, as well as related topics. Of special interest are materials on cross-disciplinary studies concerning behavior, consciousness, topology, and the mathematical expression of theoretical concepts. Writing to Ernest Jones in April 1952, Bernfeld stated, "Mrs. Bernfeld is a full partner in my biographical work but has the disadvantage of 'standing in my shadow.' Whenever that happens I get angry." Any papers, therefore, which apply to Freud might be considered as collections or works of both Bernfelds. Suzanne Bernfeld underwent psychoanalysis with Freud in 1934 and was herself a practicing lay psychoanalyst, and she shared her husband's almost lifelong fascination in Freud as a person and as the creator of the psychoanalytic movement. The papers indicate that the Bernfelds first assimilated research material for journal articles, many of which are represented in the collection, and later, for a complete biography of Freud. Their work, however, was curtailed by illnesses and terminated by Siegfried Bernfeld's death in 1953. The Professional File and the Writings and Related Material series represent Bernfeld as a member of the psychoanalytic community in Europe and in the United States. The series relate to the study of the history of psychology and of the psychoanalytic movement as a whole, with lesser emphasis on Bernfeld as an individual. The General Correspondence series is in two sections, the first arranged alphabetically by the names of the correspondents, and the second arranged chronologically by year. Letters in the chronological file fall into three general categories: dated letters with unidentifiable signatures (circa 1891-1930); routine business or professional correspondence (circa 1920-1959); and undated letters with unidentifiable signatures. In the earlier years, 1891 to 1936, and in the undated folder at the end of the series, most of the correspondence consists of letters, notes, and cards in handwritten German. In later years, the correspondence is usually typewritten but is generally from one-time-only correspondents, and the letters are brief and routine, such as in the confirmation of an appointment or in the solicitation of a monograph. The correspondents who wrote Bernfeld frequently or at greater length are in the alphabetical file, with a few exceptions in other series because of subject matter, as indicated in the container list. Letters relating to Freud and