Melanie Klein

See also: Klein

Melanie Klein , (1882 in Vienna - 1960 in London), is a Psychothérapeute and a British Psychanalyste of Austrian origin . It is analyzed by Sándor Ferenczi and becomes member of the Psychoanalytical Company of Budapest. After one second analysis carried out by Karl Abraham, it leaves for England and will live in London until its death.

Melanie Klein, the “brilliant tripière”, like had qualified it Jacques Lacan, is a personality as rich as discussed. Of a relentless requirement on the theoretical level, Melanie Klein will not have of cease to create, enrich and develop the concepts resulting from work of Sigmund Freud.

In permanent fight against the other guardian of the temple, Anna Freud, Melanie Klein will give multiple examples of its clinical genius.

Biography

Family context

The medium in which is born Melanie Reizes, on March 30th, 1882 with number 8, Tiefer Graben with Vienna is at the same time marked by conventions and the rebellion. The life of youth of his/her father, Moriz Reizes, born in 1828, fascinated it. It is resulting from a strictly orthodoxe Jewish family living with Lemberg (today Lvov in Ukraine), in this area called Galicie and which belonged to the Austro-Hungarian empire, then which will pass under Polish name after 1918.

It is in Lemberg that existed one of oldest and of the most prestigious universities of Europe. For a long time Moriz studied the Talmud but, undoubtedly under the pressure of the Jewish movement of emancipation, it still passed its examinations of entry to the University and, worse with the eyes of very pious parents, announced that it would make its medicine. Much later, Moriz will tell with his/her daughter that his/her grandmother made grinds prayers so that his/her son failed his examinations. At the end of its studies, it had almost broken with the orthodoxe Jewish tradition but without being annoyed with its family for as much.

Moriz Reizes Maria twice, but one knows only few things of its first marriage, if it is not that it took place before its studies of medicine, according to the Jewish rites and with an young girl whom it had never met before. This union was a failure and was dissolved. Moriz has thirty-seven years then.

They is eight years later that it meets Libussa Deutsch, with which it falls immediately in love. She was born in 1852 (twenty-four after its engaged couple), is girl of rabbi and resides at Warbotz (Verbotz) in Slovakia. Its first name came to him from the “mythical founder of Prague”, which became later the symbol of the Czech national identity. Libussa is a beauty with the dark hair, “cultivated, spiritual and interesting”.

Moriz, is to him general doctor with Deutsch-Kreuz, modest Hungarian village (future Burgenland, Austria), located at a hundred kilometers of Vienna and at four kilometers of the Slovak border. It reigned in the family of Libussa a cultural atmosphere of high behavior and his/her father, like his grandfather, were very respected for their scholarship and their tolerance.

The Melanie young person will be literally grabbed by this environment and will conceive any only rejection for his/her paternal grandparents like for the whole of the family members of its father.

“the total impression that I had his maternal grandparents of them, contrary to the family of my father, was that they had a good family life, that they were very simple, of modest situation but scholars and cultivated”, will write Melanie, become Klein, in his Autobiographie (1959).
She testifies to her dislike to the sight of her paternal aunt and the husband of this one when they appeared vêtus ritual Kaftan that the Polish Jews had borrowed from the aristocrats of the 18th century.

It is in fact that Libussa and its two sisters had a true passion for the culture; what attracted certainly it at Moriz, inter alia, it was that he spoke ten languages. It is in French that both been engaged correspond, we are in 1874, and this passage of one of the letters of Libussa shows at which point Moriz could show itself ignited:

“I only perceive too clearly that I will be never able to follow you in the heights where your takes-off sublimes and enthusiastic carry out you, always higher. My wings are blocked. I am too ground with ground for very daring to dream of you to accompany there. ”
It does not prevent: Moriz and Libussa marry in 1875 and settle in Deutsch-Kreuz where the first three children are born them: Emilie in 1876, Emanuel in 1877 and Sidonie in 1878.

Childhood

They prénommèrent their last child, a girl, Melanie, thus born on March 30th, 1882. The couple moved in Vienna. Did Moriz Reizes, Doctor Reizes, hope to improve the ordinary one? Always it is that it must add the function of dentist to his practice and “to round its ends of the month as doctor of a theater of light comedy”. Their difficulties are so large that Libussa is seen forced to open a shop in which it will sell plants and rarer thing, reptiles, which disgusted it deeply. It is only into 1907 that Libussa will be able to get rid of its trade.

In 1887 Melanie is five years old and a change of fortune will change the things. His/her uncle, Hermann, the younger brother of his mother, considered lawyer, lend the money necessary to them to the purchase of an apartment in Martinstrasse which was located in Wachring, one of the suburbs of Vienna. This removal coincides with the entry of small the Melanie at the public school of Alsenstrasse.

As of the beginning, it is happy there. First of all because she appreciates much the fact of having comrades, then because she inherited family passion for the culture and the studies. Very quickly, it becomes an ambitious pupil, very attached to the high notes and “it was particularly important for her to see written the words wurde belobt (with the praises) on its bulletins. ”

Melanie starts to cultivate a certain confidence in it and on the end of its life it adored to tell an anecdote which took place at its first day of school. The mistress asked, to help a little timid pupils to speak, which was called Marie. Melanie raised the finger and the teacher says to him: “Now tell me “my name is Marie””, and the little girl answered him: “My name is Melanie” and the teaching one reproached him for not having awaited its turn. From this day, it was clear that Melanie Klein would never let himself forget.

It is true also that she was in competition with her three brothers and sisters and that being young person, she had to show more. His/her mother even acknowledged to him, well later, that its birth had not been wished and yet Mélaine will write with nearly seventy-five years “I do not have the feeling to have tested rancour of it, because I received much love. ”

But it should be also said that the little girl felt neglected by her father. Not only its birth had been an error but Melanie itself effleurait hardly the conscience of his father. It also should be said that it had good about fifty years when it was born.

“I do not have any memory which he ever played with me. It was painful for me that my father could affirm openly, without any consideration for what I could feel, its preference for my older sister born in 1876, its first child” writes Melanie Klein ( Autobiographie , 1959, COp cit. ).
It in vain unceasingly sought the approval of this man whose culture had always appeared to him phenomenal (each time Melanie asks for the direction of a French expression to him, he answers him without consulting the dictionary) its combat will remain largely vain. An incident, particularly, will remain forever in the memory of the little girl: whereas she wanted to climb on her knees, his/her father pushes back it brutally; it was only three years old.

With his/her mother, Libussa, it is another history.

“Today still, known as Melanie Klein, I think much of asking it, me what it would have said or thought, and I regret enormously that it could not see some of my achievements. ” ( in Phyllis Grosskuth, Melanie Klein, its world and its work , PUF, 1990)
But it is difficult to measure in which Melanie proportions did not idealize a maternal figure whose correspondence reveals a tendency to domination rather.

Melanie also puts questions about the marriage of his parents because although Libussa is entirely devoted to its family and that Moriz is very in love with his wife, it appears that a young dead student of tuberculosis still occupies the spirit of Libussa. Melanie supposes a dissatisfaction in his mother and an even little contempt and there still the correspondence Libussa attests its difficulty of expressing its feelings.

The Reizes family is a plain Jewish family and the childhood of Melanie is deluded with religious ceremonial, but without going until orthodoxy, so much so that when Libussa tried to impose food Kasher on the house, it was a general revolt.

“Melanie Klein describes the medium in which they grew in Vienna like “anti-orthodoxe”” (in Phyllis Grosskurth, COp cit. ).
However the evening of Easter was very important for small the Melanie because as a benjamine, it held a big role in the traditional service. Great Forgiveness got also great emotions to him. Melanie adorned his more beautiful clothes and Friday evening, Libussa read the book of prayers connected out of velvet lilac which her husband had offered to him for their marriage. In addition, if Melanie always had the feeling of its judaïté, it was never Zionist and its lifestyle did not differ from that of the Nice ones.

Its relations aves his/her sisters were often complicated and very ambivalent. Emilie, the favorite one of her father, caused her jealousy and Melanie often pushed his mother to reject the actions of his older sister. His/her other sister, Sidonie, die of scrofule in 1886, at the eight years age. Melanie thus has four of them, at this time there. The Scrofule, which is a form of tuberculosis, was contagious and null doubts that the family was very anxious of what could arrive at Melanie.

“I am certain that it was prettiest of us all, affirms Melanie Klein, and I remember the blue-purple eyes of Sidonie, his black loops and his face angelica. ”
One thus includes/understands a little better the character than will develop Melanie Klein, taken who it was between nonthe desire of its birth, the beauty of Sidonie, the preference of the father for Emilie and finally Emanuel, genius of the family.

It is him, undoubtedly, which will have the greatest influence on the early childhood of Melanie. “It seemed higher to me than me in all the fields, not only because at the age of nine or ten years it had already the adult air, but as because its gifts were so extraordinary as all that I could carry out in my life appears me well little, compared so that it would have achieved. As of my more young age, I heard it play marvelously of the piano, because he was deeply musician and I saw it sat in front of his instrument to compose what passed to him by the head. It was a voluntary and revolted child, in my opinion insufficiently included/understood. It seemed to be in conflict with its professors of college or to scorn them, and it often ran up against my father during their many discussions… My brother was very attached to my mother, although it caused him much concern. ” (Melanie Klein in Autobiography, COp cit. ).

It is this brother who will be used to him as repeater for his lessons of Greek and of Latin and there is no doubt that the encouragements of Emanuel were a consolation of the paternal indifference.

Melanie thus makes his entry with the college where it shows a disproportionate ambition: it intends not only to be devoted to medicine but also to psychiatry.

The contribution and work of Melanie Klein

Concepts

Influence

Melanie Klein was interested in the Psychanalyse of the children, which developed considerably and which practically all the current analysts accept.

Wilfred Bion worked out its design of a pathological projective identification driving to the formation of odd objects, and which is distinguished from a normal projective identification.

Donald Winnicott worked on the primary education relation of Objet, which it distinguishes from the use of the object, conceiving in particular the concept of Transitional object.

Works

  • Mourning and depression , Payot, 2004

  • Developments of the psychoanalysis with Joan River, Paula Heimann and Susan Isaacs, PUF, 2005
  • Psychoanalysis of children , Payot, 2005
  • the psychoanalysis of the children , PUF, 2004
  • Tests of psychoanalysis 1921-1945 , Payot, 1998
  • Love and hatred: The need for repair, Payot, 2001
  • Desire and gratitude and other tests , Gallimard, 1978
  • Transfer and other writings , PUF, 1995
  • the Oedipus complex , Payot, 2006

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