Freud’s Jewish World

LEO BAECK INSTITUTE, YIVO, SIGMUND FREUD ARCHIVES

Saturday, December 2, 2006, 7:30 PM – 10:30 PM

Sunday, December 3, 2006, 9:00 AM – 4: 30 PM

Monday, December 4, 2006, 9:00 AM – 4: 30 PM

Sigmund Freud was born on May 6, 1856 in the small Moravian town of Frieberg. His parents, Jakob and Amalie Nathansohn Freud, were both born in Galicia and raised as Orthodox Jews. The family Bible records that he entered the Jewish Covenant -- that he was circumcised -- on May 13, and that his birth name was Sigismund Schlomo -- the Schlomo after his father's father.When he was four years old, his family moved to Vienna, and he lived there until he had to flee the Nazi threat in 1938. Freud died in London. He had suffered for many years from an agonizing and incurable oral cancer, and on September 21, 1939 -- Yom Kippur -- he asked his physician for the fatal dose of morphine that would end his agony and hasten the inevitable end.

Freud's 150th birthday is being celebrated all over the world in conferences, exhibitions, special journal issues, and books, including a new release of Peter Gay's classic biography. These studies have addressed many aspects of his work, especially his contribution to the culture of his time and to modern scientific, literary, and historical thought. However, no event has so far focused specifically on Freud as a Jew -- that is, on his Jewish roots, and his ambivalent attitude toward Judaism.

YIVO, LBI and The Freud Archives have invited an outstanding group of academics and psychoanalysts to consider Freud in the context of his upbringing, including the bourgeouis culture of Vienna in the early 20th century, the anti-Semitism of central Europe, and the overall anxiety of his time. An exhibit of papers, photos, letters and art work in the LBI gallery will coincide with the conference to enhance our understanding of Freud’s Jewish world.

The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is the world's preeminent resource center for Eastern European Jewish studies -- the cultural matrix of Freud and most of his followers. There is a long connection between YIVO and psychoanalysis. YIVO founder Max Weinreich used psychoanalytic precepts to study the psychology of Eastern European adolescents, and translated four of Freud's works into Yiddish. Freud himself became a trustee of YIVO in 1930, and the YIVO archives hold materials related to Freud, his family of origin, and his followers.

The Leo Baeck Institute is a research and archival center for the study of the German Jewish world in which Freud and his followers flourished until 1938. Its holdings relate to many of the people and places that made up Freud's Jewish world.

The Sigmund Freud Archives is dedicated to the collection, conservation, and collation of Freud papers, correspondence, and photographs, and to making them available for scholarly use. Archives material will be displayed in an exhibit at the Center for Jewish History which will open simultaneously with the conference.


Freud’s Jewish World LEO BAECK INSTITUTE, YIVO, SIGMUND FREUD ARCHIVES Saturday, December 2, 2006, 7:30 PM – 10:30 PM Sunday, December 3, 2006, 9:00 AM – 4: 30 PM Monday, December 4, 2006, 9:00 AM – 4: 30 PM Sigmund Freud was born on May 6, 1856 in the small Moravian town of Frieberg. His parents, Jakob and Amalie Nathansohn Freud, were both born in Galicia and raised as Orthodox Jews. The family Bible records that he entered the Jewish Covenant -- that he was circumcised -- on May 13, and that his birth name was Sigismund Schlomo -- the Schlomo after his father's father.When he was four years old, his family moved to Vienna, and he lived there until he had to flee the Nazi threat in 1938. Freud died in London. He had suffered for many years from an agonizing and incurable oral cancer, and on September 21, 1939 -- Yom Kippur -- he asked his physician for the fatal dose of morphine that would end his agony and hasten the inevitable end. Freud's 150th birthday is being celebrated all over the world in conferences, exhibitions, special journal issues, and books, including a new release of Peter Gay's classic biography. These studies have addressed many aspects of his work, especially his contribution to the culture of his time and to modern scientific, literary, and historical thought. However, no event has so far focused specifically on Freud as a Jew -- that is, on his Jewish roots, and his ambivalent attitude toward Judaism. YIVO, LBI and The Freud Archives have invited an outstanding group of academics and psychoanalysts to consider Freud in the context of his upbringing, including the bourgeouis culture of Vienna in the early 20th century, the anti-Semitism of central Europe, and the overall anxiety of his time. An exhibit of papers, photos, letters and art work in the LBI gallery will coincide with the conference to enhance our understanding of Freud’s Jewish world. The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is the world's preeminent resource center for Eastern European Jewish studies -- the cultural matrix of Freud and most of his followers. There is a long connection between YIVO and psychoanalysis. YIVO founder Max Weinreich used psychoanalytic precepts to study the psychology of Eastern European adolescents, and translated four of Freud's works into Yiddish. Freud himself became a trustee of YIVO in 1930, and the YIVO archives hold materials related to Freud, his family of origin, and his followers. The Leo Baeck Institute is a research and archival center for the study of the German Jewish world in which Freud and his followers flourished until 1938. Its holdings relate to many of the people and places that made up Freud's Jewish world. The Sigmund Freud Archives is dedicated to the collection, conservation, and collation of Freud papers, correspondence, and photographs, and to making them available for scholarly use. Archives material will be displayed in an exhibit at the Center for Jewish History which will open simultaneously with the conference.

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		With the support of: Division 39 American Psychological Association NewYork University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy & Psychoanalysis National Membership Committee on Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work New York School for Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, IPTAR American Psychoanalytic Association