Martha Bernays ( , ; 26 July 1861 – 2 November 1951) was the wife of Austrian psychoanalyst
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies explained as originatin ...
.
Bernays was the second daughter of Emmeline and Berman Bernays. Her paternal grandfather
Isaac Bernays
Isaac Bernays ( , , ; 29 September 1792 – 1 May 1849) was Chief Rabbi in Hamburg.
Life
Bernays was born in Weisenau (now part of Mainz). He was the son of Jacob Gera, a boarding house keeper at Mainz, and an elder brother of Adolphus Bernays. ...
was a Chief Rabbi of
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
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.
Background
Martha Bernays was raised in an observant
Orthodox Jewish
Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...
family, the daughter of Berman Bernays (1826–1879) and Emmeline Philipp (1830–1910). Her grandfather,
Isaac Bernays
Isaac Bernays ( , , ; 29 September 1792 – 1 May 1849) was Chief Rabbi in Hamburg.
Life
Bernays was born in Weisenau (now part of Mainz). He was the son of Jacob Gera, a boarding house keeper at Mainz, and an elder brother of Adolphus Bernays. ...
, was the
chief rabbi
Chief Rabbi ( he, רב ראשי ''Rav Rashi'') is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a ...
of Hamburg and a distant relative of the German
Romantic poet
Heinrich Heine
Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was a German poet, writer and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of '' Lied ...
and whom Heine frequently mentioned in letters. Isaac's son,
Michael Bernays
Michael Bernays (27 November 183425 February 1897) was a German literary historian, and an important Goethe and Shakespeare scholar.
Life
He was born in Hamburg. His father, Isaac Bernays, died when he was fourteen years old. His adjustments w ...
(1834–1897), Martha's uncle, converted to Christianity at an early age and was professor of German at the University of Munich. Although the Bernays and Freud families were well-acquainted - her elder brother Eli married Freud's younger sister, for example - the latter were more liberal Jews, and Freud in particular had no time for ritual observances. Martha told a cousin that "not being allowed to light the Sabbath lights on the first Friday night after her marriage was one of the more upsetting experiences of her life". She was also the aunt of
Edward Bernays
Edward Louis Bernays ( , ; November 22, 1891 − March 9, 1995) was an American theorist, considered a pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda, and referred to in his obituary as "the father of public relations". His best-known ca ...
, Austrian-born American publicist and "father of
public relations
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...
",. Her maternal cousins were brothers
Julius Philipp
Julius Philipp (1 March 1878 – 15 March 1944) was a German-born metal trader who co-founded ''Philipp Brothers''.
Biography
Julius Philipp was born to an Orthodox Jewish family in Germany. He was a cousin to Martha Bernays, the wife of Sigmu ...
and
Oscar Philipp
Oscar Israel Philipp (1882–1965) was a German-born metal trader who co-founded Philipp Brothers.
Biography
Oscar Philipp was born to an Orthodox Jewish family in Wandsbek, Germany. He was a cousin to Martha Bernays, the wife of Sigmund Freud ...
, founders of
Philipp Brothers
Phibro is a global low-carbon commodity company, focused on renewable asstets' development, acquisitions, optimizations and related contract structuring.
Phibro's strategy is based on a proven track record of combining market insight, disciplin ...
, which became the largest metal trading company in the world.
Courtship and marriage
![Freud's ashes in Golder's Green Columbarium (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Freud%27s_ashes_in_Golder%27s_Green_Columbarium_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Sigmund Freud and Martha met in April 1882 and after a four-year engagement (1882–1886) they were married on 14 September 1886 in
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
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, postal ...
.
Freud and Bernays's love letters sent during the engagement years, according to Freud's official biographer
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 ...
, who read all the letters, "would be a not unworthy contribution to the great love literature of the world." Freud sent over 900 (lengthy) letters to his fiancée, which chart the ups and downs of a tempestuous relationship, marred by outbreaks of jealousy on his part as well as affirmations that "I love you with a kind of passionate enchantment".
Their eventual marriage was a much more harmonious affair: Martha consoling herself after his death with the thought that "in the 53 years of our marriage there was not a single angry word between us". The couple had
six children: Mathilde (born 1887), Jean-Martin (born 1889), Oliver (born 1891),
Ernst
Ernst is both a surname and a given name, the German, Dutch, and Scandinavian form of Ernest. Notable people with the name include:
Surname
* Adolf Ernst (1832–1899) German botanist known by the author abbreviation "Ernst"
* Anton Ernst (1975-) ...
(born 1892), Sophie (born 1893), and
Anna
Anna may refer to:
People Surname and given name
* Anna (name)
Mononym
* Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke
* Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773)
* Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century)
* Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 12 ...
(born 1895).
Martha Freud died in 1951. She was cremated at
Golders Green Crematorium
Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £135,987 in 2021), ...
and her ashes placed in the
Freud Corner, into the same
ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
funeral urn that holds her husband's ashes.
Character
The young Martha Bernays was a slim and attractive woman who was also a charmer, intelligent, well-educated and fond of reading (as she remained throughout her life). As a married woman, she ran her household efficiently, and was indeed almost obsessive about punctuality and dirt. Firm but loving with her children, she spread an atmosphere of peaceful
joie de vivre
( , ; "joy of living") is a French phrase often used in English to express a cheerful enjoyment of life, an exultation of spirit.
It "can be a joy of conversation, joy of eating, joy of anything one might do… And ''joie de vivre'' may be ...
through the household (at least according to the French analyst
René Laforgue
René Laforgue (5 November 18946 March 1962) was a French psychiatrist and psychoanalyst.
Biography
Laforgue was born in Thann (then part of the German Empire) and died in Paris. He studied medicine in Berlin, and in 1919 wrote a thesis on "The ...
). However, Martha was not able to establish a strong connection with her youngest daughter, Anna.
Ménage à trois?
Bernays's younger sister, Minna Bernays, was very close to the young couple, and moved in with them in the 1890s, to set up what has (jokingly) been called a
ménage à trois
A () is a domestic arrangement and committed relationship with three people in polyamorous romantic or sexual relations with each other, and often dwelling together; typically a traditional marriage between a man and woman along with anothe ...
. Sigmund and Minna would sometimes holiday together; and the suggestion has periodically been made that she in fact became Freud's mistress.
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 ...
for example reported (late in life) that from Minna he "learned that Freud was in love with her and that their relationship was indeed very intimate". Freud historian
Peter Swales
Peter Swales (25 December 1932 – 2 May 1996) was a businessman who served as the chairman of Manchester City F.C. from 1973 until 1993. He held a variety of prominent positions within the game of football, including Chairman of The Footbal ...
"became notorious when, in 1981, he maintained that Freud had had a secret affair with his wife Martha’s younger sister Minna Bernays ... and had arranged for her to have an abortion after she became pregnant."
This claim was (and is) controversial. The publication of a hotel log from 1898 registering the pair as "Dr Sigm Freud u frau" in a double room prompted some Freud scholars, including his defender
Peter Gay
Peter Joachim Gay (né Fröhlich; June 20, 1923 – May 12, 2015) was a German-American historian, educator, and author. He was a Sterling Professor of History at Yale University and former director of the New York Public Library's Center for Sch ...
, to regard the conjecture of Freud and Minna having an affair as possibly accurate. Other proponents of the affair, however — relying on their analysis of Freud's own autobiographical writings — believe that it was consummated only in 1900.
Opponents point to the unlikelihood of such a betrayal taking place between sisters as close as Minna and Martha, especially given the mores of the time; and to the less sensational possibility of the hotel simply being full at the time. Pending publication of the Freud/Minna correspondence for the period 1893–1910, the truth behind such speculations may not be known for sure.
What does seem certain is that Martha herself in no way knew of, or colluded in, any such affair. Freud described her as thoroughly good, where he and Minna were more self-willed and wild; and for better or worse her commitment to conventional morality, domestic duty and family values is clear. (Her husband too had shocked
André Breton
André Robert Breton (; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') o ...
by his lack of any
Bohemianism
Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people and with few permanent ties. It involves musical, artistic, literary, or spiritual pursuits. In this context, bohemians may be wanderers, a ...
, and considered a sexually promiscuous woman as "simply a ''Haderlump''
ragamuffin.) Martha's attitude to infidelity is perhaps best illustrated by her reaction to their friend
Stefan Zweig's leaving his wife
Friderike for a younger woman: six years after Zweig's death in 1942, Martha wrote to his widow that she still resented "our friend's infidelity to you!"
[Quoted in Peter Gay, ''Freud'' (1989) p. 60 n.]
See also
*
Family nexus
*
Freud family
The family of Sigmund Freud, the pioneer of psychoanalysis, lived in Austria and Germany until the 1930s before emigrating to England, Canada, and the United States. Several of Freud's descendants and relatives have become well known in different f ...
*
Love triangle
A love triangle or eternal triangle is a scenario or circumstance, usually depicted as a rivalry, in which two people are pursuing or involved in a romantic relationship with one person, or in which one person in a romantic relationship with so ...
References
Further reading
*Katja Behling, ''Martha Freud: A Biography'', Cambridge: Polity Press, 2005 (translated by
Rupert Glasgow from the German ''Martha Freud: Die Frau des Genies'', Berlin: Aufbau, 2002)
*Esti D. Freud, "Mrs Sigmund Freud", ''Jewish Spectator'', XLV (1980) 29-31
*
Martin Freud, ''Sigmund Freud: Man and Father'' (1958)
External links
The Freud Museum, London
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernays, Martha
Martha
Martha (Hebrew: מָרְתָא) is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem. She was witness to ...
Austrian Jews
Jews from Hamburg
German emigrants to Austria-Hungary
German emigrants to England
Austrian refugees
Jews who immigrated to the United Kingdom to escape Nazism
1861 births
1951 deaths
Golders Green Crematorium
German emigrants to Austria
Bernays family