Erich Neumann ( he, אריך נוימן; 23 January 1905 – 5 November 1960) was a German

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...

, philosopher, writer, and student of

Carl Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philo ...

Career

Neumann was born in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family. He received his PhD in Philosophy from the

University of Erlangen–Nuremberg University of Erlangen–Nuremberg (german: Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, FAU) is a Public University, public research university in the cities of Erlangen and Nuremberg in Bavaria, Germany. The name Friedrich–Alexander ...

in 1927 and then continued to study medicine at the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

, where he acquired his first degree in medicine in 1933. In 1934 Neumann and his wife Julie, who had been

Zionists Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Jew ...

since they were teenagers, spurred on by fear of persecution of Jews by the

Nazi government The government of Nazi Germany was totalitarian, run by the Nazi Party in Germany according to the Führerprinzip through the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler. Nazi Germany began with the fact that the Enabling Act was enacted to give Hitler's gover ...

, moved to

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

. For many years, he regularly returned to

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

, Switzerland to give lectures at the C. G. Jung Institute. He also lectured frequently in England, France and the Netherlands, and was a member of the

International Association for Analytical Psychology The International Association for Analytical Psychology (IAAP) is the international accrediting and regulatory body for all Jungian societies and groups of analytical psychology practitioners, trainees and affiliates. Analytical psychology was ...

and president of the Israel Association of Analytical Psychologists. He practiced

analytical psychology Analytical psychology ( de , Analytische Psychologie, sometimes translated as analytic psychology and referred to as Jungian analysis) is a term coined by Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist, to describe research into his new "empirical science" ...

from 1934 until his death from

kidney cancer Kidney cancer, also known as renal cancer, is a group of cancers that starts in the kidney. Symptoms may include blood in the urine, lump in the abdomen, or back pain. Fever, weight loss, and tiredness may also occur. Complications can include spr ...

in 1960.

Contributions

Neumann contributed to the field of

developmental psychology Developmental psychology is the science, scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult deve ...

and the psychology of

consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is sentience and awareness of internal and external existence. However, the lack of definitions has led to millennia of analyses, explanations and debates by philosophers, theologians, linguisticians, and scien ...

and

creativity Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is formed. The created item may be intangible (such as an idea, a scientific theory, a musical composition, or a joke) or a physical object (such as an invention, a printed literary w ...

. He had a theoretical and philosophical approach to analysis, contrasting with the more clinical concern in England and the United States. His most valuable contribution to psychology was the empirical concept of "centroversion", a synthesis of extra- and introversion. However, he is best known for his theory of

feminine Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as socially constructed, and there is also some evidence that some behaviors considered fe ...

development, a theory formulated in numerous publications, most notably ''

The Great Mother ''The Great Mother: An Analysis of the Archetype'' (german: Die große Mutter. Der Archetyp des grossen Weiblichen) is a book discussing mother goddesses by the psychologist Erich Neumann. The dedication reads, "To C. G. Jung friend and master ...

''.

Works

His most enduring contributions to Jungian thought are ''

The Origins and History of Consciousness ''The Origins and History of Consciousness'' (german: Ursprungsgeschichte des Bewusstseins) is a 1949 book by the psychologist and philosopher Erich Neumann, in which the author attempts to "outline the archetypal stages in the development of con ...

'' (1949) and ''

'' (1955). Another work, ''Depth Psychology and a New Ethic'', reflects on human destructiveness and the way the human mind relates to its own shadow. Neumann further developed his studies in feminine archetypes in his ''Art and the Creative Unconscious'', ''The Fear of the Feminine'', and ''Amor and Psyche''. Neumann also wrote poetry, a novel called ''The Beginning'' (''Der Anfang''), and in 1932 conducted a critical study of

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It ...

's works at a time when Kafka was still a minor figure in the literary world.

Bibliography

* ''Tiefenpsychologie und neue Ethik''. Rhein, Zürich 1949 * '' Ursprungsgeschichte des Bewusstseins''. Mit einem Vorwort von C.G. Jung. Rascher, Zürich, 1949 * ''Amor und Psyche''. 1952 * ''Umkreisung der Mitte''. 3 Bde., 1953/54 * '' Die große Mutter. Der Archetyp des großen Weiblichen''. Rhein, Zürich 1956 * ''Der schöpferische Mensch''. 1959 * ''Die archetypische Welt Henry Moores''. 1961, posthum veröffentlicht * ''Krise und Erneuerung''. 1961, posthum veröffentlicht * ''Das Kind. Struktur und Dynamik der werdenden Persönlichkeit''. 1963, posthum 1980 veröffentlicht * ''Jacob et Esaü: L'archétype des frères ennemis, un symbole du judaïsme'', posthum 2015. French translation of ''Jacob and Esau. Reflection on the Brother Motif'', (c) Chiron Publications.

Citations

General references

* * Neumann, Erich. ''Depth Psychology and a New Ethic''. Shambhala; Reprint edition (1990). . * Neumann, Erich. ''The Child''. English translation by Ralph Manheim, C.G. Jung Foundation for Analytical Psychology, Inc.; Hodder and Stoughton (1973). . * Ortíz-Osés, Andrés. ''La Diosa madre''. Trotta; (1996).

External links

Erich Neumann: Theorist of the Great Mother
by

Camille Paglia Camille Anna Paglia (; born April 2, 1947) is an American feminist academic and social critic. Paglia has been a professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, since 1984. She is critical of many aspects of modern cultur ...

C. G. Jung and Erich Neumann: The Zaddik, Sophia, and the Shekinah, by Lance S. Owens

Art and the Creative Unconscious

The Great Mother

Origins and History of Consciousness - Volume II
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neumann, Erich (psychologist) 1905 births 1960 deaths 20th-century German novelists 20th-century German poets 20th-century non-fiction writers 20th-century psychologists Comparative mythologists German consciousness researchers and theorists Deaths from cancer in Israel Deaths from kidney cancer Developmental psychologists Feminist philosophers Feminist psychologists Feminist spirituality Feminist theologians Feminist writers Franz Kafka scholars German feminists German male novelists German male poets German non-fiction writers German philosophers German psychoanalysts German psychologists German Zionists Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Israeli feminists Israeli non-fiction writers Israeli novelists Israeli philosophers Israeli poets Israeli psychologists Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Mandatory Palestine Jungian psychologists Male feminists People from Tel Aviv Psychology writers Symbologists University of Erlangen-Nuremberg alumni Writers from Berlin