Benjamin Björn Rubinstein (April 12, 1905 – July 12, 1989) was a

Finnish Jewish The history of the Jews in Finland goes back to the 1700s. Finnish Jews are Jews who are citizens of Finland. The country is home to some 1,800 Jews, of which 1,400 live in the Greater Helsinki area and 200 in Turku. Most Jews in Finland have Fi ...

–

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

physician and

psychoanalyst PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: + . is a set of Theory, theories and Therapy, therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a bo ...

. Benjamin B. Rubinstein was born in the Jewish community of Helsinki, Finland, and he attended school both in his home town and in Copenhagen. His native language was

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. In

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, he studied first history and

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

, but after having read '' Totem and Taboo'' by Sigmund Freud, he changed to the Faculty of Medicine in order to become a psychoanalyst. He also worked as a research assistant to Ragnar Granit. Rubinstein attained the degree of Licentiate in Medicine in 1936, and studied neurology and psychiatry in the United Kingdom in 1937–1939. His supervising analyst was Eva Rosenfeld, a student of Freud. When the Winter War broke out in 1939, Rubinstein returned to Finland and served as a medic and a psychiatrist in the army. He married his cousin Dinorah Rosenthal in 1940. In 1947, Rubinstein and his wife moved to the United States to be educated at the Menninger Foundation in Topeka, Kansas, until 1953. Then he opened a private analytical practice in New York. Rubinstein and his wife become

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

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in 1957. Benjamin B. Rubinstein wrote extensively on the philosophy of psychoanalysis, including articles on the

mind–body dichotomy Mind–body may refer to: * Mind–body dualism, a medical model * Mind–body exercise, a form of exercise that combines body movement with mental focus * Mind–body intervention, an alternative medicine * Mind–body problem The mind–bo ...

motivation Motivation is the reason for which humans and other animals initiate, continue, or terminate a behavior at a given time. Motivational states are commonly understood as forces acting within the agent that create a disposition to engage in goal-dire ...

, metaphor, the logic of psychoanalytic explanations, and metapsychology. His collected papers were published in 1997: ''Psychoanalysis and the Philosophy of Science: Collected Papers of Benjamin B. Rubinstein, M.D.''

Sources

* Holt, Robert R. 1997: Editor's Introduction: The Life and Work of Benjamin Bjorn Rubinstein. — ''Psychoanalysis and the Philosophy of Science: Collected Papers of Benjamin B. Rubinstein, M.D.'' (edited by Robert R. Holt), pp. 1–21. International Universities Press, Madison. * Ihanus, Juhani 2018: Benjamin B. Rubinstein — A Finnish-American Psychoanalyst. ''Clio’s Psyche'', 24 (2): pp. 162–166. * Ihanus, Juhani & Talvitie, Vesa 2007: Benjamin Rubinstein — psykoanalyysin tuntematon suuri suomalainen. — ''Psykoterapia'' 4, pp. 226–242.
On-line version.

External links

International Dictionary of Psychoanalysis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rubinstein, Benjamin B. 1905 births 1989 deaths Physicians from Helsinki People from Uusimaa Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Finnish Jews Psychoanalysts Finnish military doctors American people of Finnish-Jewish descent University of Helsinki alumni Swedish-speaking Finns Finnish emigrants to the United States Finnish psychiatrists Jewish psychoanalysts 20th-century Finnish physicians