Myron Russcol Sharaf (July 7, 1926 – May 13, 1997) was an American writer and
psychotherapist
Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome prob ...
. He was a lecturer in
psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry.
Initial p ...
at
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools ...
, the director of the Center for Sociopsychological Research and Education at
Boston State Hospital, and assistant clinical professor of psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at
Tufts University School of Medicine
The Tufts University School of Medicine is the medical school of Tufts University, a private research university in Massachusetts. It was established in 1893 and is located on the university's health sciences campus in downtown Boston.
The ''T ...
.
Sharaf was a student, patient, and colleague of
Wilhelm Reich
Wilhelm Reich ( , ; 24 March 1897 – 3 November 1957) was an Austrian doctor of medicine and a psychoanalyst, along with being a member of the second generation of analysts after Sigmund Freud. The author of several influential books, most ...
's from 1948 to 1954, and the author of what is widely regarded as the definitive biography of Reich, ''Fury On Earth'' (1983). He died of a heart attack in Berlin in 1997, after addressing a conference in Vienna marking Reich's centennial.
[Saxon, Wolfgang]
"Myron Sharaf, student, biographer and interpreter of Wilhelm Reich, at 70"
''New York Times'', May 24, 1997.
*For details of the Ph.D., see Sharaf, Myron. ''Fury on Earth: A Biography of Wilhelm Reich''. Da Capo Press, 1994, p. 30 (first published 1983).
Sharaf 1994, p. 30.
Early life and education
Sharaf was born in Miami, but grew up in
Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Allston, Fenway–Kenmore, Mission Hill, Jamaica Plain, and ...
, the son of Nathan Sharaf and Anne Russcol Sharaf. His father founded the Steaming Kettle Coffee Shop chain. His paternal great-grandparents,
originally named Sharafsky, were Jewish emigrants from the Russian Empire. He obtained his first degree in psychology from
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher ...
in 1949, an M.Ed. from
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learnin ...
in 1953, and a Ph.D. in psychology and education from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
in 1960.
[
]
''Fury on Earth''
A ''New York Times'' review of ''Fury on Earth: A Biography of Wilhelm Reich'' describes Sharaf as "intimate for more than 10 years as student, disciple, patient and colleague" of Reich. Paul Roazen wrote in ''The Psychoanalytic Review'', "Myron Sharaf's ''Fury on Earth'' is far and away the finest book both on Reich's work and his life. It is a work of scholarship that may well, until the Reich Archives are finally opened, remain definitive on the subject."[Roazen, P. (1985)]
"Fury on Earth: A Biography of Wilhelm Reich"
''Psychoanal. Rev''., 72:668-671.
Bibliography
*
*with Milton Greenblatt.
*with Milton Greenblatt and Evelyn M. Stone.
*
See also
* '' Life Against Death''
Notes
Further reading
*Reich, Robbie
"Ode to a Therapist"
extract from ''Breathe''; also published in the ''Journal of Family Life'', Volume 3/4, 1997.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharaf, Myron
1926 births
1997 deaths
American non-fiction writers
Harvard College alumni
American psychotherapists
Body psychotherapy
Boston State Hospital physicians
Orgonomy
Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences alumni
American medical researchers
20th-century American writers
People from Newton, Massachusetts
20th-century American Jews
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
20th-century American non-fiction writers