Kurt Robert Eissler (; 2 July 1908,

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. ...

– 17 February 1999, New York City) was an Austrian psychoanalyst and a scholar and archivist of the work and life 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 ...

Training and contributions

K. R. Eissler took a PhD in psychology at

Vienna University 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 1934 and underwent a training analysis with August Aichhorn. His first psychoanalytic contribution, an article on early female development, was published in 1939, to be followed by others on

anorexia nervosa Anorexia nervosa (AN), often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by Calorie restriction, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. Individuals wit ...

and shock treatment. With the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

, Eissler moved to the United States with his wife, fellow psychoanalyst Ruth Selke Eissler. There he developed into a combative supporter of the

Freudian theory Sigmund Freud (6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) is considered to be the founder of the psychodynamic approach to psychology, which looks to unconscious drives to explain human behavior. Freud believed that the mind is responsible for both co ...

. Of his twelve, often heated and extensive books, about half dealt with issues in Freud's life and work, the other half with figures from high culture such as Shakespeare and Goethe. Eissler provided a spirited defense of the

death drive In classical psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud, the death drive () is the Drive theory, drive toward destruction in the sense of breaking down complex phenomena into their constituent parts or bringing life back to its inanimate 'dead' state, often ...

, and introduced the term "parameter" to codify deviations from pure interpretation in the Freudian tradition. He saw creative art as emanating from an asocial element in the artist's mind, and as offering a form of conflict-resolution that need not be shared by the artist themselves. He also considered that some forms of regression were of benefit to the artist in enabling them to break out of "the traditional pattern that he has been forced to integrate through the identifications necessitated and enforced by the oedipal constellation".

The Sigmund Freud Archives

Eissler is also known for his work in establishing and filling the

Sigmund Freud Archives The Sigmund Freud Archives mainly consist of a trove of documents housed at the US Library of CongressPeter Gay Peter Joachim Gay ( né Fröhlich ; June 20, 1923 – May 12, 2015) was a German-American historian, educator, and author. He was a Sterling Professor of History at Yale University and former director of the New York Public Library's Center for ...

, although commending Eissler for his industry in preserving so much otherwise scattered and ephemeral material, was critical of his policy of restricting scholarly access to the material. Freud historian Peter J. Swales also objected to the restrictions that Eissler imposed. Controversy also surrounded his choice of

Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson (; born March 28, 1941, as Jeffrey Lloyd Masson) is an American author. Masson is best known for his conclusions about Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis. In his '' The Assault on Truth'' (1984), Masson argues that Freud ma ...

as his successor for the Sigmund Freud Archives.

Characteristics

Janet Malcolm Janet Clara Malcolm (born Jana Klara Wienerová; July 8, 1934 – June 16, 2021) was an American writer, staff journalist at ''The New Yorker'' magazine, and collagist who fled antisemitic persecution in Nazi-occupied Prague. She was the author ...

described Eissler as a "singular mixture of brilliance, profundity, originality, and moral beauty on the one hand, and willfulness, stubbornness, impetuosity, and maddening guilelessness on the other". He was also an atheist.Erwin, Edward. The Freud Encyclopedia: Theory, Therapy, and Culture. New York: Routledge, 2002. "Eissler himself was an atheist who had never participated in a religious ritual".

Selected publications

Articles

* 'On Certain Problems of Female Sexual Development' ''Psychoanalytic Quarterly'' VIII (1939) * 'Psychopathology and Creativity', ''American Imago'' 24 (1967) * 'Death Drive, Ambivalence, and Narcissism', ''The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child'' XXVI (1971)

Books

* ''Goethe: A Psychoanalytic Study'' (1963) * ''Medical Orthodoxy and the Future of Psychoanalysis'' (1965) * ''Talent and Genius: The Fictitious Case of Tausk Contra Freud'' (1971) * ''Three Instances of Injustice'' (1993) * ''Freud and the Seduction Theory: A Brief Love Affair'' (2001)

References

External links

Kurt R. Eissler
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eissler, Kurt R. 1908 births 1999 deaths American atheists American psychoanalysts Jewish psychoanalysts 20th-century American psychologists