Mélanie Klein And The Psychoanalysis Of Children
The story of Mélanie Klein is that of one of the most important women in psychoanalysis, but also that of a human being who has gone through deep mourning and that of an intellectual who has faced strong opposition and controversy. . His fierce debate with Anna Freud marked an entire era.
Mélanie Klein is considered the founder of British psychoanalysis. She is the only woman in the history of this trend considered the principal of a school.
His intellectual vivacity and his rebellious character aroused great passions, either by admiration or by rejection. His work is still under discussion, but at the same time very much appreciated. His writings have been translated into 15 languages.
This great Austrian psychoanalyst has mainly developed her work with children. She saw in the structuring of the technique of the game a means to reach the unconscious of the child. It departs from Freud’s theses in several respects and offers a coherent and renewed perspective of classical psychoanalysis.
The beginning of Melanie Klein’s life
Melanie Klein was born in Vienna on March 30, 1882. She was the daughter of a Polish Jew, who, in turn, came from a family that was very religious and Orthodox in their beliefs.
The father broke with this family line and studied medicine. He had an unsuccessful first arranged marriage. He then married Libussa Deutsch, a woman much younger than himself, with a tyrannical and destructive personality. Marriage never went well.
Melanie Klein was the youngest of four siblings. She was jealous of one of her sisters who died of tuberculosis when Mélanie was 4 years old. It sowed a seed of guilt in her that she never got rid of.
On the other hand, Mélanie had a close and complex relationship with her brother Emmanuel. It was the only one who supported her when she expressed her intention to study medicine. However, the affection between them went further and had clear incestuous overtones. Emmanuel left home to live in Italy.
A difficult life
Mélanie’s father died at the age of 18. Added to this is the fact that his beloved brother Emmanuel passed away shortly after, a victim of his alcoholism and a messy life.
Soon after, Melanie Klein decided to marry a chemical engineer. She gave up on the idea of studying medicine. She had three children, but her family life made her very miserable.
Her two older children essentially grew up next to her grandmother, Libussa, who frequently recommended Melanie take a trip to balance her anxiety and depression. Then she sent him aggressive letters accusing him of abandoning his children.
When her mother passed away, Melanie Klein began a scan with Sandor Ferenczi to treat her depression. She thus began to familiarize herself with psychoanalysis, especially after having witnessed a reading of Sigmund Freud during a conference in Budapest.
Ferenczi drew his attention to his great intuitive ability to understand children. This is why Melanie Klein took an interest in this field and began to produce interesting works.
A psychoanalyst of great controversies
One of the most controversial things about Melanie Klein is that she based her early work on her children. Little by little, Klein made a prestigious place for herself in the psychoanalytic circle and made great friendships, like the one she had with Ernest Jones. With him she fought great battles and formed the Psychoanalytic Society of Great Britain.
Mélanie divorced her husband and moved to England. She has also obtained nationality. There she was the protagonist of a lively controversy with Anna Freud, on infantile psychoanalysis. The dispute was so heated that Ernest Jones himself had to stop the debate once as London was being bombed and they didn’t realize it.
Melanie Klein did a second psychoanalysis with Karl Abraham, whom she always considered to be her real teacher. However, he died a year after the process began.
Mélanie’s eldest son also died following a climbing accident. It could have been a suicide. His daughter Melitta has become one of his most ardent opponents, which has caused him great distress.
Melanie Klein has written only one book, The Psychoanalysis of Children, and about thirty essays. This was enough for her to occupy a place of honor in the history of psychoanalysis. The Kleinian school now has many followers. The founder died in 1960 from colon cancer.
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