Paul Roazen Obituary: Research Of Psychoanalysis Upset Freud's
Paul Roazen is a significant figure as a historian of psychoanalysis " a prolific and sometimes controversial author. A key to his career was information he got from interviewing between 1964 and 1967 more than 70 people who had known Sigmund Freud personally. He also interviewed some 40 more who were professionally interested in the history of psychoanalysis or had been part of the early psychoanalytic movement. Among his interviewees were 25 former patients of Freud.
At the time Roazen was doing his political science PhD dissertation on the political thought of Freud. He was the first non-psychoanalyst ever granted access to the library at the British Psychoanalytical Institute. There, in a large cabinet in the basement, he came upon the papers of Ernest Jones, author of the three-volume, 1953-57 official biography of Freud. Roazen went through the papers, which had all the information that Jones had used to write the biography.
Anna, Freud's daughter, came to regret bitterly having granted Roazen access to the library. That was because he met psychoanalysts there, many of whom he went on to interview, and those interviews led to revelations that she disliked. Gossip is the first draft of history: the 'gossip' that Roazen elicited became crucial for understanding Freud and his followers. Roazen was a diligent interviewer and Jones, the authorised historian of psychoanalysis, Jones, had left a lot out.
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Paul Roazen's first book, Freud: political and social thought (1968) was an adaptation of his PhD thesis, but his second book, Brother Animal: the story of Freud and Tausk (1969), told a tale, elicited from his interviewees, that had not previously been published. Victor Tausk was a talented early supporter of Freud. In an official obituary of Tausk, Freud wrote, 'No one could escape the impression that here was a man of importance', and, 'Tausk was sure of an honourable memory in the history of psychoanalysis and its earliest struggles.'
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Roazen's 1975 book Freud and His Followers, his most important work, is based upon his interviews and is a crucial source of historical information. Much of that information had previously been generally unknown.
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Roazen was convinced that 'history-writing is inherently a subversive activity: students of history necessarily undermine generally received wisdom'. He liked to cite Anna Freud's comment that 'Roazen is a menace whatever he writes', a remark which is perhaps a measure of his importance in psychoanalytic historiography. Yet his wish was to add perspective to our understanding of Freud and his followers, not to undermine them.
He wrote books about Erik Erikson, Helene Deutsch, Sandor Rado and Edoardo Weiss, each of them a psychoanalyst. At the time of his death, he was researching the papers of William C. Bullitt, which had recently become available. Bullitt had been a patient of Freud in the 1920s and went on to become the first American ambassador to the Soviet Union and then ambassador to France.
At the time Roazen was doing his political science PhD dissertation on the political thought of Freud. He was the first non-psychoanalyst ever granted access to the library at the British Psychoanalytical Institute. There, in a large cabinet in the basement, he came upon the papers of Ernest Jones, author of the three-volume, 1953-57 official biography of Freud. Roazen went through the papers, which had all the information that Jones had used to write the biography.
Anna, Freud's daughter, came to regret bitterly having granted Roazen access to the library. That was because he met psychoanalysts there, many of whom he went on to interview, and those interviews led to revelations that she disliked. Gossip is the first draft of history: the 'gossip' that Roazen elicited became crucial for understanding Freud and his followers. Roazen was a diligent interviewer and Jones, the authorised historian of psychoanalysis, Jones, had left a lot out.
...
Paul Roazen's first book, Freud: political and social thought (1968) was an adaptation of his PhD thesis, but his second book, Brother Animal: the story of Freud and Tausk (1969), told a tale, elicited from his interviewees, that had not previously been published. Victor Tausk was a talented early supporter of Freud. In an official obituary of Tausk, Freud wrote, 'No one could escape the impression that here was a man of importance', and, 'Tausk was sure of an honourable memory in the history of psychoanalysis and its earliest struggles.'
...
Roazen's 1975 book Freud and His Followers, his most important work, is based upon his interviews and is a crucial source of historical information. Much of that information had previously been generally unknown.
...
Roazen was convinced that 'history-writing is inherently a subversive activity: students of history necessarily undermine generally received wisdom'. He liked to cite Anna Freud's comment that 'Roazen is a menace whatever he writes', a remark which is perhaps a measure of his importance in psychoanalytic historiography. Yet his wish was to add perspective to our understanding of Freud and his followers, not to undermine them.
He wrote books about Erik Erikson, Helene Deutsch, Sandor Rado and Edoardo Weiss, each of them a psychoanalyst. At the time of his death, he was researching the papers of William C. Bullitt, which had recently become available. Bullitt had been a patient of Freud in the 1920s and went on to become the first American ambassador to the Soviet Union and then ambassador to France.