Géza Róheim ( hu, Róheim Géza; September 12, 1891 – June 7, 1953) was a Hungarian psychoanalyst and anthropologist. Considered by some as the most important anthropologist-psychoanalyst, he is often credited with founding the field of psychoanalytic anthropology; was the first psychoanalytically trained anthropologist to do

field research Field research, field studies, or fieldwork is the collection of raw data outside a laboratory, library, or workplace setting. The approaches and methods used in field research vary across disciplines. For example, biologists who conduct f ...

; and later developed a general

cultural theory Cultural studies is an interdisciplinary field that examines the political dynamics of contemporary culture (including popular culture) and its historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers generally investigate how cultural practices r ...

Life

The only child of a prosperous Budapest family, Róheim studied

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

and anthropology at the universities of

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

and eventually

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, where he received his doctorate in 1914. In 1919 he became the first professor of anthropology at the University of Budapest and a member of the local psychoanalytic society. Róheim was analysed by

Sándor Ferenczi Sándor Ferenczi (7 July 1873 – 22 May 1933) was a Hungarian psychoanalyst, a key theorist of the psychoanalytic school and a close associate of Sigmund Freud. Biography Born Sándor Fränkel to Baruch Fränkel and Rosa Eibenschütz, bo ...

and became a training analyst with the Budapest Institute of Psychoanalysis. Being Jewish, he was forced to leave Hungary in 1939, on the eve of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. He settled in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

; and unable to return to communist controlled Hungary after the war, he spent the rest of his life in New York. While unable to fit comfortably into academic anthropological circles in the U.S. — despite receiving support from figures like

Margaret Mead Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist who featured frequently as an author and speaker in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s. She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard C ...

and

Edward Sapir Edward Sapir (; January 26, 1884 – February 4, 1939) was an American Jewish anthropologist-linguist, who is widely considered to be one of the most important figures in the development of the discipline of linguistics in the United States. Sap ...

— Róheim published prolifically there, and taught through a privately organised seminar.

Work

Róheim is best known for his (and his wife Ilonka's) nine-month stay at or near Hermannsburg Lutheran Mission in central Australia in 1929 — a trip which generated great interest in psychoanalytic circles — and for his subsequent writings about

Arrernte Arrernte (also spelt Aranda, etc.) is a descriptor related to a group of Aboriginal Australian peoples from Central Australia. It may refer to: * Arrernte (area), land controlled by the Arrernte Council (?) * Arrernte people, Aboriginal Australi ...

and

Pitjantjatjara The Pitjantjatjara (; or ) are an Aboriginal people of the Central Australian desert near Uluru. They are closely related to the Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra and their languages are, to a large extent, mutually intelligible (all are va ...

people. His research was used to support

Ernest Jones Alfred Ernest Jones (1 January 1879 – 11 February 1958) was a Welsh neurologist and psychoanalyst. A lifelong friend and colleague of Sigmund Freud from their first meeting in 1908, he became his official biographer. Jones was the first En ...

in his debate with Bronislaw Malinowski over the existence of the

Oedipus complex The Oedipus complex (also spelled Œdipus complex) is an idea in psychoanalytic theory. The complex is an ostensibly universal phase in the life of a young boy in which, to try to immediately satisfy basic desires, he unconsciously wishes to hav ...

matrilineal Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline – their mother's lineage – and which can involve the inheritance ...

societies. He also did fieldwork in

Melanesia Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from Indonesia's New Guinea in the west to Fiji in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea. The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Va ...

, native North America and the Horn of Africa. His theory of culture stressed its rootedness in the long period of juvenile dependence in humans, which allowed for the possibility of exploration and

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

.Michael Jackson, ''Minima Ethnographica'' (1998) p. 29

Publications (select)

References

External links

*
Géza Róheim

Róheim, Géza

(in French)

MSS 46
Special Collections & Archives
UC San Diego Library. * Géza Róheim] (org.
Psychoanalysis And The Social Sciences (Vol 1, 1947)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roheim, Geza 1891 births 1953 deaths 20th-century Hungarian people Hungarian anthropologists Psychological anthropologists Hungarian psychoanalysts Jewish psychoanalysts Hungarian Jews Hungarian expatriates in Australia American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Hungarian emigrants to the United States Jews who emigrated to escape Nazism Hungarian refugees Writers from Budapest Analysands of Sándor Ferenczi 20th-century anthropologists

Life

Work

Publications (select)

See also

References

Further reading

External links