Gregory Zilboorg
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Gregory Zilboorg (Russian: Григорий Зильбург, uk, Григорій Зільбург) (December 25, 1890 – September 17, 1959) was a psychoanalyst and historian of psychiatry who is remembered for situating psychiatry within a broad sociological and humanistic context in his many writings and lectures.


Life and career

Zilboorg was born into a Jewish family in Kiev,
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
on December 25, 1890 and studied medicine in
St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, where he worked under
Vladimir Bekhterev Vladimir Mikhailovich Bekhterev ( rus, Влади́мир Миха́йлович Бе́хтерев, p=ˈbʲextʲɪrʲɪf; January 20, 1857 – December 24, 1927) was a Russian neurologist and the father of objective psychology. He is best know ...
. In 1917, after the February Revolution, he served as secretary to the Ministry of Labor under two prime ministers ( Aleksandr Kerenskii and Georgii L'vov). When the Bolsheviks came to power, he fled to Kiev and established a reputation as a political journalist and drama critic. Zilboorg emigrated to the United States in 1919 and supported himself by lecturing on the
Chautauqua Chautauqua ( ) was an adult education and social movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua br ...
circuit and translating literature from Russian to English. Among the works he translated is Evgenii Zamiatin's novel '' We'', and
Leonid Andreyev Leonid Nikolaievich Andreyev (russian: Леони́д Никола́евич Андре́ев, – 12 September 1919) was a Russian playwright, novelist and short-story writer, who is considered to be a father of Expressionism in Russian liter ...
's 1915 play ''
He Who Gets Slapped ''He Who Gets Slapped'' ( rus, Тот, кто получает пощёчины, links=no) is a play in four acts by Russian dramatist Leonid Andreyev; completed in August 1915 and first produced in that same year at the Moscow Art Theatre on ...
'' Well received, that translation has been republished 17 times since that initial publication. In 1922 he began studying for his second medical degree, at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
. After graduating in 1926, he worked at the Bloomingdale Hospital and in 1931 began his psychoanalytic practice in New York City, having first been analysed in Berlin by
Franz Alexander Franz Gabriel Alexander (22 January 1891 – 8 March 1964) was a Hungarian-American psychoanalyst and physician, who is considered one of the founders of psychosomatic medicine and psychoanalytic criminology. Life Franz Gabriel Alexander, in ...
.M. Stern, ''Frightful Stages'' (2014) p. 43 From the 1930s onward, Zilboorg produced several volumes of lasting importance on the history of psychiatry. ''The Medical Man and the Witch During the Renaissance'' began as the Noguchi lectures at Johns Hopkins University in 1935. This volume was followed by ''A History of Medical Psychology'' in 1941 and ''Sigmund Freud'' in 1951. He also produced a series of clinical articles on subjects from the schizoid personality to
postpartum depression Postpartum depression (PPD), also called postnatal depression, is a type of mood disorder associated with childbirth, which can affect both sexes. Symptoms may include extreme sadness, low energy, anxiety, crying episodes, irritability, and cha ...
- he considered the latter as rooted in
ambivalence Ambivalence is a state of having simultaneous conflicting reactions, beliefs, or feelings towards some object. Stated another way, ambivalence is the experience of having an attitude towards someone or something that contains both positively and neg ...
over motherhood and latent
sadism Sadism may refer to: * Sadomasochism, the giving or receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation * Sadistic personality disorder, an obsolete term proposed for individuals who derive pleasure from the s ...
- and explored the effects of unresolved conflicts and
countertransference Countertransference is defined as redirection of a psychotherapist's feelings toward a client – or, more generally, as a therapist's emotional entanglement with a client. Early formulations The phenomenon of countertransference (german: G ...
affects of the analyst in the analytic situation. Zilboorg's patients included
George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...
,
Lillian Hellman Lillian Florence Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American playwright, prose writer, memoirist and screenwriter known for her success on Broadway, as well as her communist sympathies and political activism. She was blacklisted aft ...
, Ralph Ingersoll,
Edward M.M. Warburg Edward Mortimer Morris Warburg (June 5, 1908 – September 1992) was an American philanthropist and patron of the arts from New York City. He taught Modern Art at Bryn Mawr College and he was vice director for public affairs of the Metropolitan ...
,
Marshall Field Marshall Field (August 18, 1834January 16, 1906) was an American entrepreneur and the founder of Marshall Field and Company, the Chicago-based department stores. His business was renowned for its then-exceptional level of quality and customer ...
,
Kay Swift Katharine Faulkner "Kay" Swift (April 19, 1897 – January 28, 1993) was an American composer of popular and classical music, the first woman to score a hit musical completely. Written in 1930, the Broadway musical '' Fine and Dandy'' includes s ...
and
James Warburg James Paul Warburg (August 18, 1896 – June 3, 1969) was a German-born American banker. He was well known for being the financial adviser to Franklin D. Roosevelt. His father was banker Paul Warburg, member of the Warburg family and "father" of ...
. The musical ''
Lady in the Dark ''Lady in the Dark'' is a musical with music by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and book and direction by Moss Hart. It was produced by Sam Harris. The protagonist, Liza Elliott, is the unhappy female editor of a fictional fashion magazine ...
'' is reportedly based on
Moss Hart Moss Hart (October 24, 1904 – December 20, 1961) was an American playwright, librettist, and theater director. Early years Hart was born in New York City, the son of Lillian (Solomon) and Barnett Hart, a cigar maker. He had a younger brother ...
's experience of analysis with Zilboorg, who also examined other noted writers including Thomas Merton. Zilboorg married Ray Liebow in 1919 and they had two children (Nancy and Gregory, Jr.). He married Margaret Stone in 1946 and they had three children (Caroline, John and Matthew). His niece was cellist Olga Zilboorg. Even half a century after his death, Zilboorg's reputation is riddled with salacious rumours, unsupported accusations, and information taken out of context. Citing Susan Quinn, author
Ron Chernow Ronald Chernow (; born March 3, 1949) is an American writer, journalist and biographer. He has written bestselling historical non-fiction biographies. He won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Biography and the 2011 American History Book Prize for hi ...
reports that Zilboorg engaged in unethical behavior including financial exploitation of patients. In an interview with Chernow, Edward M. M. Warburg reported that Zilboorg asked him for cash gifts and, in one instance, a mink coat for his wife. The extensively researched and meticulously documented biography ''The Life of Gregory Zilboorg'' (see further reading below) goes some distance to give a rounded picture of a brilliant, complicated and charismatic man. It also recounts in detail Zilboorg's spiritual journey, his friendship with the Dominican Noël Mailloux, and his eventual conversion to Roman Catholicism.


Literary archives

Zilboorg's papers at the
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library () is the rare book library and literary archive of the Yale University Library in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the largest buildings in the world dedicated to rare books and manuscripts. Es ...
,
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
, contain manuscripts of several of his publications as well as his personal correspondence with Margaret Stone Zilboorg.


Bibliography


Writings

*''The passing of the old order in Europe'' (1920) *''The medical man and the witch during the renaissance'' (1935) *''A history of medical psychology'' (1941) *''Mind, Medicine, & Man'' (1943) *''Sigmund Freud'' (1951) *''Psychology of the criminal act and punishment'' (1954) *''Psychoanalysis and Religion'' (1962)


Translations

*''He Who Gets Slapped'' by
Leonid Andreyev Leonid Nikolaievich Andreyev (russian: Леони́д Никола́евич Андре́ев, – 12 September 1919) was a Russian playwright, novelist and short-story writer, who is considered to be a father of Expressionism in Russian liter ...
, translated from the Russian with an introduction (1921) *'' We'' by
Yevgeny Zamyatin Yevgeny Ivanovich Zamyatin ( rus, Евге́ний Ива́нович Замя́тин, p=jɪvˈɡʲenʲɪj ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ zɐˈmʲætʲɪn; – 10 March 1937), sometimes anglicized as Eugene Zamyatin, was a Russian author of science fictio ...
, translated from the Russian (1924) *''The criminal, the judge and the public; a psychological analysis'' by
Franz Alexander Franz Gabriel Alexander (22 January 1891 – 8 March 1964) was a Hungarian-American psychoanalyst and physician, who is considered one of the founders of psychosomatic medicine and psychoanalytic criminology. Life Franz Gabriel Alexander, in ...
and Hugo Staub, translated from the German (1931) *''Outline of clinical psychoanalysis'' by Otto Fenichel, translated by Bertram D. Lewin and Gregory Zilboorg (1934)


See also

* Bertram D. Lewin *
Grandiosity In the field of psychology, the term grandiosity refers to an unrealistic sense of superiority, characterized by a sustained view of one's self as better than others, which is expressed by disdainfully criticising them (contempt), overinflating ...
* Karl Stern *
Psychoanalytic Quarterly ''The Psychoanalytic Quarterly'' is a quarterly academic journal of psychoanalysis established in 1932 and, since 2018, published by Taylor and Francis. The journal describes itself as "the oldest free-standing psychoanalytic journal in America". T ...
* Thomas Merton


References


Further reading

* Gregory Zilboorg Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature,
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library () is the rare book library and literary archive of the Yale University Library in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the largest buildings in the world dedicated to rare books and manuscripts. Es ...
.
Finding aid
. * Caroline Zilboorg, ''The Life of Gregory Zilboorg, 1890–1940: Psyche, Psychiatry, and Psychoanalysis'' (The History of Psychoanalysis Series), London: Routledge, 2021. * Caroline Zilboorg, ''The Life of Gregory Zilboorg, 1940–1959: Mind, Medicine, and Man'' (The History of Psychoanalysis Series), London: Routledge, 2021.


External links

* * * * Gregory Zilboorg Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. * https://sites.google.com/view/gregory-zilboorg/home {{DEFAULTSORT:Zilboorg, Gregory 1890 births 1959 deaths Physicians from Kyiv People from Kiev Governorate Ukrainian Jews White Russian emigrants to the United States Jewish American writers Russian writers Psychology writers Russian translators Ukrainian translators 20th-century American psychologists Ukrainian psychologists Jewish Ukrainian writers 20th-century Ukrainian people 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American translators Converts to Roman Catholicism from Judaism 20th-century American Jews