Martha Bernays ( ; ; 26 July 1861 – 2 November 1951) was the wife of Austrian psychoanalyst

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 ...

. Bernays was the second daughter of Emmeline and Berman Bernays. Her paternal grandfather

Isaac Bernays Isaac Bernays ( ; ; ; 29 September 1792 – 1 May 1849) was Chief Rabbi in Hamburg. Life Bernays was born in Weisenau (now part of Mainz). He was the son of Jacob Gera, a boarding house keeper at Mainz, and an elder brother of Adolphus Bernays. ...

was a Chief Rabbi of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Background

Martha Bernays was raised in an observant

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...

family, the daughter of Berman Bernays (1826–1879) and Emmeline Philipp (1830–1910). Her grandfather,

, was the

chief rabbi Chief Rabbi () is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a capitulation by Ben-Zion Meir ...

of Hamburg and a distant relative of the German Romantic poet

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; ; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was an outstanding poet, writer, and literary criticism, literary critic of 19th-century German Romanticism. He is best known outside Germany for his ...

, who frequently mentioned Isaac in his letters. Isaac's son, Michael Bernays (1834–1897), Martha's uncle, converted to Christianity at an early age and was professor of German at the University of Munich. Although the Bernays and Freud families were well-acquainted – her elder brother Eli married Freud's younger sister, for example – the latter were more liberal Jews, and Freud in particular had no time for ritual observances. Martha told a cousin that "not being allowed to light the Sabbath lights on the first Friday night after her marriage was one of the more upsetting experiences of her life". She was also the aunt of

Edward Bernays Edward Louis Bernays ( ; ; November 22, 1891 − March 9, 1995) was an American pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda, referred to in his obituary as "the father of public relations". While credited with advancing the profession ...

, an Austrian-born American publicist and the "father of

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

". Her maternal cousins were brothers Julius Philipp and Oscar Philipp, founders of Philipp Brothers, which became the largest metal trading company in the world.

Courtship and marriage

Sigmund Freud and Martha met in April 1882 and after a four-year engagement (1882–1886) they were married on 14 September 1886 in

. Freud and Bernays's love letters sent during the engagement years, according to Freud's official biographer

Ernest Jones Alfred Ernest Jones (1 January 1879 – 11 February 1958) was a Welsh neurologist and psychoanalyst. A lifelong friend and colleague of Sigmund Freud from their first meeting in 1908, he became his official biographer. Jones was the first En ...

, who read all the letters, "would be a not unworthy contribution to the great love literature of the world." Freud sent over 900 (lengthy) letters to his fiancée, which chart the ups and downs of a tempestuous relationship, marred by outbreaks of jealousy on his part as well as affirmations that "I love you with a kind of passionate enchantment". Their eventual marriage was a much more harmonious affair: Martha consoling herself after his death with the thought that "in the 53 years of our marriage there was not a single angry word between us". The couple had six children: Mathilde (born 1887), Jean-Martin (born 1889), Oliver (born 1891), Ernst (born 1892), Sophie (born 1893), and Anna (born 1895). Martha Freud died in 1951. She was cremated at

Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and is one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £136,000 in 2021), ...

and her ashes placed in the Freud Corner, into the same

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

funeral urn that holds her husband's ashes.

Character

The young Martha Bernays was a slim and attractive woman who was also a charmer, intelligent, well-educated and fond of reading (as she remained throughout her life). As a married woman, she ran her household efficiently, and was indeed almost obsessive about punctuality and dirt. Firm but loving with her children, she spread an atmosphere of peaceful

joie de vivre ( , ; " joy of living") is a French phrase often used in English to express a cheerful enjoyment of life, an exultation of spirit, and general happiness. It "can be a joy of conversation, joy of eating, joy of anything one might do… And ' ...

through the household (at least according to the French analyst René Laforgue). However, Martha was not able to establish a strong connection with her youngest daughter, Anna.

Relationship with her sister

Bernays's younger sister, Minna Bernays, was very close to the young couple, and moved in with them in the 1890s, to set up what has (jokingly) been called a

ménage à trois A () is a domestic arrangement or committed relationship consisting of three people in polyamorous romantic or sexual relations with each other, and often dwelling together. The phrase is a loan from French meaning "household of three". ...

. Sigmund and Minna would sometimes holiday together; and the suggestion has periodically been made that she in fact became Freud's mistress.

Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and psychologist who founded the school of analytical psychology. A prolific author of over 20 books, illustrator, and correspondent, Jung was a c ...

for example reported (late in life) that from Minna he "learned that Freud was in love with her and that their relationship was indeed very intimate". Freud historian Peter Swales "became notorious when, in 1981, he maintained that Freud had had a secret affair with his wife Martha’s younger sister Minna Bernays ... and had arranged for her to have an abortion after she became pregnant." This claim was (and is) controversial. The publication of a hotel log from 1898 registering the pair as "Dr Sigm Freud u frau" in a double room prompted some Freud scholars, including his defender

Peter 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 ...

, to regard the conjecture of Freud and Minna having an affair as possibly accurate. Other proponents of the affair, however — relying on their analysis of Freud's own autobiographical writings — believe that it was consummated only in 1900. Opponents point to the unlikelihood of such a betrayal taking place between sisters as close as Minna and Martha, especially given the mores of the time, and to the less sensational possibility of the hotel simply being full at the time. Pending publication of the Freud/Minna correspondence for the period 1893–1910, the truth behind such speculations may not be known for sure. What does seem certain is that Martha herself in no way knew of, or colluded in, any such affair. Freud described her as thoroughly good, where he and Minna were more self-willed and wild; and for better or worse her commitment to conventional morality, domestic duty and

family values Family values, sometimes referred to as familial values, are traditional or cultural values that pertain to the family's structure, function, roles, beliefs, attitudes, and ideals. Additionally, the concept of family values may be understood ...

is clear. (Her husband too had shocked

André Breton André Robert Breton (; ; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') ...

by his lack of any

Bohemianism Bohemianism is a social and cultural movement that has, at its core, a way of life away from society's conventional norms and expectations. The term originates from the French ''bohème'' and spread to the English-speaking world. It was used to ...

, and considered a sexually promiscuous woman as "simply a ''Haderlump'' ragamuffin.) Martha's attitude to infidelity is perhaps best illustrated by her reaction to their friend

Stefan Zweig Stefan Zweig ( ; ; 28 November 1881 – 22 February 1942) was an Austrian writer. At the height of his literary career, in the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the most widely translated and popular writers in the world. Zweig was raised in V ...

's leaving his wife Friderike for a younger woman: six years after Zweig's death in 1942, Martha wrote to his widow that she still resented "our friend's infidelity to you!"Quoted in Peter Gay, ''Freud'' (1989) p. 60 n.

References

External links

The Freud Museum, London

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernays, Martha Freud family Austrian Jews Jews from Hamburg German emigrants to Austria-Hungary Immigrants to the United Kingdom Austrian refugees Jews who immigrated to the United Kingdom to escape Nazism 1861 births 1951 deaths Golders Green Crematorium German emigrants to Austria Bernays family