Paul Parin (; 20 September 1916 – 18 May 2009) was a Swiss

psychoanalyst PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious processes and their influence on conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on dream interpretation, psychoanalysis is also a talk th ...

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

and

ethnologist Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Scien ...

. He was born in

Polzela Polzela () is a settlement in Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Polzela. It lies on the left bank of the Savinja River extending into the Ložnica Hills () to the north. The area is part of the traditional region of Lower Styria, Sty ...

(), near

Celje Celje (, , ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, third-largest city in Slovenia. It is a regional center of the traditional Slovenian region of Styria (Slovenia), Styria and the administrative seat of the City Municipality of Celje. Th ...

, Slovenia, then part of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

, into a family of assimilated Jews. He studied medicine in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

and

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. In Zürich, he met Goldy Matthèy-Guenet who became his wife. At the end of World War II, the two travelled to the liberated zone in south-east

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, where they volunteered as physicians in the units of the

partisan Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Ital ...

resistance. After the War, the two moved back to Zürich. Parin, along with Fritz Morgenthaler and Goldy Parin-Matthèy, co-founded the Zurich School of Ethnopsychoanalysis in the 1950s. They conducted pioneering

psychoanalytic PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious processes and their influence on conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on dream interpretation, psychoanalysis is also a talk the ...

research among the Agni and Dogon populations in West Africa during the 1960s, applying psychoanalytic methods in non-Western contexts. The Swiss ethnopsychoanalysis project collaborated closely with Georges Devereux (1908–1985), a prominent Hungarian-French

anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

considered the founding figure of ethnopsychoanalysis in France. Additionally, contributions were made by researchers including Mario Erdheim, Maya Nadig, Florence Weiss, and Jochen Bonz. In 1992, Parin received the prestigious

Erich Fried Prize The Erich Fried Prize () is a literary prize in honour of the Austrian poet Erich Fried, and is awarded annually by the for Literature and Language, based in Vienna. The value of the prize, endowed by the office of the Chancellor of Austria, is 15 ...

for his literary achievements. Parin died in Zürich, aged 92.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parin, Paul 1916 births 2009 deaths Swiss psychoanalysts Swiss ethnologists Swiss medical writers Yugoslav emigrants to Switzerland People from the Municipality of Polzela

See also

References