Ilse Hellman
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Ilse Hellman Noach (28 September 1908 – 3 December 1998) was an Austrian-British psychoanalyst and child development expert. She worked with child evacuees from London with psychological issues in the first two years of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
under the employ of the
Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...
before working at
Anna Freud Anna Freud CBE ( ; ; 3 December 1895 – 9 October 1982) was a British psychoanalyst of Austrian Jewish descent. She was born in Vienna, the sixth and youngest child of Sigmund Freud and Martha Bernays. She followed the path of her father a ...
's Hampstead War Nurseries until the war was over. Hellman trained in psychoanalysis under
Dorothy Burlingham Dorothy Trimble Tiffany Burlingham (11 October 1891 – 19 November 1979) was an American child psychoanalyst and educator. A lifelong friend and partner of Anna Freud, Burlingham is known for her joint work with Freud on the analysis of childr ...
and worked at Burlingham's and Freud's Hampsead Child Therapy Course and Clinic from 1945 until her retirement in 1992. She published ''From War Babies to Grandmothers: Forty-Eight Years in Psychoanalysis'' in 1990.


Early life and family background

On 28 September 1908, Hellman was born in
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
. She was the youngest of three children and the daughter of Paul Hellman, the textile mill owner and co-founder of the
Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of ...
, and his wife Irene Hellman-Redlich. Hellman's family were wealthy Jews, and her parents were art patrons who encouraged the arts and promoted local distinction earning musicians such as
Adolf Busch Adolf Georg Wilhelm Busch (8 August 1891 – 9 June 1952) was a German-Swiss violinist, conductor, and composer. Life and career Busch was born in Siegen in Westphalia. He studied at the Cologne Conservatory with Willy Hess and Bram Eldering. ...
, the violinist, and
Rudolf Serkin Rudolf Serkin (28 March 1903 – 8 May 1991) was a Bohemian-born Austrian-American pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Beethoven interpreters of the 20th century. Early life, childhood debut, and education Serkin was born in ...
, the pianist. Both her parents and brother died in
Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamp (SS), subcamps on its own territory and in parts of German-occupied Europe. The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately af ...
. Hellman was educated at a Roman Catholic boys' school.


Career

When she left school, and having grown a fascination with children in Vienna, she enrolled on a two-year course that specialised in juvenile delinquency and child psychology against the wishes of her family. Hellman ventured to France in 1931 and attended evening classes in child psychology at the Sorbonne whilst working at a young offenders' home for those ineligible to be sent to prison close to Paris, from 1931 to 1932. Between 1933 and 1935, she stayed in Paris working at a children's assessment centre for those from difficult backgrounds. Hellman went on to study at the
University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...
in its Department of Child Development for two years from 1935 to 1937 under
Charlotte Bühler Charlotte Bühler (née Malachowski; December 20, 1893 – February 3, 1974) was a German- American developmental psychologist. Life Bühler was born Charlotte Berta Malachowski in Berlin, the elder of two children of Jewish government archit ...
, the Professor of Child Development. In 1937, after earning her
Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...
degree, she was invited by Bühler to go to the Parents' Association Institute in London and aid in her study of children who had learning disabilities. Hellman remained at the Parents' Association Institute until 1939. At the beginning of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, she was sent to the
Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...
because she was deemed "an enemy alien". Hellman was released not long after since there was a shortage of psychiatrists addressing evacuees' emotional issues. The
Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...
employed her to work with child evacuees escaping from the threat of air raids to rural areas from London from 1939 to 1941. Many of the children Hellman worked with had psychological problems from being separated from their families and had a variety of conditions such as
nocturnal enuresis Nocturnal enuresis (NE), also informally called bedwetting, is involuntary urination while asleep after the age at which bladder control usually begins. Bedwetting in children and adults can result in emotional stress. Complications can inc ...
, eating disorders, and disturbed sleep. At 1941's end, she was invited by
Anna Freud Anna Freud CBE ( ; ; 3 December 1895 – 9 October 1982) was a British psychoanalyst of Austrian Jewish descent. She was born in Vienna, the sixth and youngest child of Sigmund Freud and Martha Bernays. She followed the path of her father a ...
, the daughter of
Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...
, to work at her Hampstead War Nurseries alongside
Dorothy Burlingham Dorothy Trimble Tiffany Burlingham (11 October 1891 – 19 November 1979) was an American child psychoanalyst and educator. A lifelong friend and partner of Anna Freud, Burlingham is known for her joint work with Freud on the analysis of childr ...
. Hellman remained at the nurseries until the end of the war in 1945. Whilst working at the nurseries, she began training in psychoanalysis under Burlingham. In 1945, Hellman was appointed an associate member of the
British Psychoanalytical Society The British Psychoanalytical Society was founded by Ernest Jones as the London Psychoanalytical Society on 30 October 1913. It is one of several organisations in Britain training psychoanalysts. The society has been home to a number of psych ...
and was promoted to a full member seven years later. She was training analyst and a leading person of the Anna Freudian Group from 1955 onwards. Hellman went on to join the staff of Burlingham's and Freud's Hampstead Child Therapy Course and Clinic in 1945, and led the adolescents department and was director of the research project on adolescence alongside Liselotte Frankl. She published papers on adolescence psycho-sexual development, their suitability for psychoanalytic treatment and the difficulties of such treatment. Hellmann did other topics and taught both at the clinic and at Institute of Psycho-Analysis from 1942 to 1945. She worked with two separate analysts for each practice analysing mother and child and a coordinator to compile the findings until her worsening health forced her to retire in 1992 but maintained an interest in her profession. Hellman had published, ''From War Babies to Grandmothers: Forty-Eight Years in Psychoanalysis'', two years earlier in 1990.


Personal life

She was married to the Dutch art historian Arnold Noach following the war until his sudden death in 1976. They had a daughter,
Maggie Noach Maggie Noach (18 August 1949 – 17 November 2006) was an English literary agent who established her own eponymous agency called The Maggie Noach Agency in 1982. The clients she represented included such as authors as Brian Aldiss, David Almond, ...
, who was a literary agent. On 3 December 1998, Hellman died in London.


Legacy

Clifford Yorke in Hellman's entry in the ''International Dictionary of Psyschoanalysis'' described her impact as "Generations of analysts have cause to be grateful for her guidance, instruction, and, above all, her wisdom" and wrote, "Her deeply empathic understanding of the problems encountered by students in their clinical work made her a valued mentor in work with both adults and children. Her clinical skills with children of all ages secured her international reputation."


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hellman, Ilse 1908 births 1998 deaths Psychoanalysts from Vienna University of Vienna alumni 20th-century Austrian women scientists 20th-century British women scientists Jewish scientists Jewish psychoanalysts Austrian Jews Austrian emigrants to the United Kingdom British psychoanalysts 20th-century British psychologists 20th-century Austrian writers 20th-century Austrian women writers 20th-century women educators 20th-century British women educators