Rosemary Gordon (1918

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

– 17 January 2012, Menerbes,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

) was a naturalised British academic, clinical psychologist and leading analytical psychologist and writer. She was a fellow of the

Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI) is a long-established anthropological organisation, and Learned Society, with a global membership. Its remit includes all the component fields of anthropology, such as biolo ...

and of the

British Psychological Society The British Psychological Society (BPS) is a representative body for psychologists and psychology in the United Kingdom. History It was founded on 24 October 1901 at University College London (UCL) as ''The Psychological Society'', the org ...

and an honorary fellow of the Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies at the

University of Kent The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...

. After schooling in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, Gordon came to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

where she took a degree in psychology and later gained a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. She undertook anthropological research into family constellations at the Sorbonne in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. On returning to England her work in

clinical psychology Clinical psychology is an integration of human science, behavioral science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well ...

centred on

projective test In psychology, a projective test is a personality test designed to let a person respond to ambiguous stimuli, presumably revealing hidden emotions and internal conflicts projected by the person into the test. This is sometimes contrasted with a ...

ing. She became interested in the possibilities of

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious mind, unconscious processes and their influence on conscious mind, conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on The Inte ...

and undertook an analysis with the Kleinian

Hanna Segal Hanna Segal (born Hanna Poznańska; 20 August 1918 – 5 July 2011) was a British psychoanalyst of Polish descent and a follower of Melanie Klein. She was president of the British Psychoanalytical Society, vice-president of the International P ...

. However she found its premises on instinctual drives too limiting and turned to analytical psychology instead. She became a member of the London

Society of Analytical Psychology The Society of Analytical Psychology, known also as the SAP, incorporated in London, England, in 1945 is the oldest training organisation for Jungian analysts in the United Kingdom. Its first Honorary President in 1946 was Carl Jung. The societ ...

in 1957 of which she was later to become the chair. She was co-editor with

Michael Fordham Michael Scott Montague Fordham (4 August 1905 – 14 April 1995) was an English child psychiatrist and Jungian analyst. He was a co-editor of the English translation of C.G. Jung's '' Collected Works''. His clinical and theoretical collabora ...

and Kenneth Lambert of a series of clinical textbooks published by the Society of Analytical Psychology and later the editor of the ''Journal of Analytical Psychology'' (1986-1994). She did not abandon entirely her interest in the British Independent group, in particular the work of

Melanie Klein Melanie Klein (; ; Reizes; 30 March 1882 – 22 September 1960) was an Austrian-British author and psychoanalysis, psychoanalyst known for her work in child analysis. She was the primary figure in the development of object relations theory. Kl ...

and

Donald Winnicott Donald Woods Winnicott (7 April 1896 – 25 January 1971) was an English paediatrician and psychoanalyst who was especially influential in the field of object relations theory and developmental psychology. He was a leading member of the Brit ...

. With her colleague Judith Hubback she set up the "Freud-Jung Group" which met for years to exchange ideas between members 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 the Society of Analytical Psychology. Aside from her many articles, she wrote two significant volumes, ''Dying and Creating, a Search for Meaning'' (1978) in which she explored the symbolic process and the variations she found in the conceptualisations of C. G. Jung and

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 ...

. Her last book was ''Bridges, Metaphor for Psychic Processes'' (1993), which gathered together the writings of a professional lifetime. She was an internationally esteemed clinician, supervisor and lecturer. In 1950 Rosemary Gordon married an intelligence officer and future BBC producer, Peter Montagnon, and was then known as Rosemary Gordon‐Montagnon. They spent their retirement in rural

Southern France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

where she predeceased him in 2012.

Bibliography

* ''Dying and Creating, a Search for Meaning''. London: Society of Analytical Psychology. 1978. * ''Bridges, Metaphor for Psychic Processes'' London:

Taylor and Francis Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in the United Kingdom that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, CRC Press, Routledge, F1000 Research and Dovepress. It is a division of ...

. 1993. * ''A Very Private World', The Function and Nature of Imagery''. London and New York: Academic Press Ltd, 1972 /1

ellcome Library Archives * ''Student Unrest II Students and the New Ethic'' ts, n.

Wellcome Library Archives

External links

* Winborn, Mark.
Transference as a Fulcrum of Analysis
', 9 April 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Rosemary 1918 births 2012 deaths Fellows of the British Psychological Society British psychoanalysts Jungian psychologists British psychologists British women psychologists Academics of the University of London Alumni of the University of London British women writers British social anthropologists British women anthropologists Symbolic anthropologists British women scientists British women academics German emigrants to the United Kingdom