![ReneLaforgue](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/ReneLaforgue.jpg)
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
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
. He studied medicine in
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 in 1919 wrote a thesis on "The Affects in Schizophrenia Patients from a Psychoanalytical Point of View". As his interest in psychoanalysis developed, he underwent a training analysis and began a correspondence with
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 pathologies explained as originating in conflicts ...
. In 1926, along with
Marie Bonaparte
Princess Marie Bonaparte (2 July 1882 – 21 September 1962), known as Princess George of Greece and Denmark upon her marriage, was a French author and psychoanalyst, closely linked with Sigmund Freud. Her wealth contributed to the popularity o ...
and eight others, he founded the
Paris Psychoanalytic Society, where he became one of the most prominent members.
His (unsuccessful) attempt to collaborate with the
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
s over the Aryanisation of the society in Paris during the Occupation in World War Two cast something of a shadow over his later career, and in the year of his death, 1962, he was removed from the roster of training analysts by the
International Psychoanalytical Association
The International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA) is an association including 12,000 psychoanalysts as members and works with 70 constituent organizations. It was founded in 1910 by Sigmund Freud, from an idea proposed by Sándor Ferenczi.
His ...
.
Laforgue is the author of several books on psychoanalysis, albeit more popularising than original; as well as of a variety of articles on subjects ranging from the eroticization of fear in
gambling
Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...
, through the development of the sense of reality, to such
defense mechanisms
In psychoanalytic theory, a defence mechanism (American English: defense mechanism), is an unconscious psychological operation that functions to protect a person from anxiety-producing thoughts and feelings related to internal conflicts and o ...
as
psychological repression
Repression is a key concept of psychoanalysis, where it is understood as a defence mechanism that "ensures that what is unacceptable to the conscious mind, and would if recalled arouse anxiety, is prevented from entering into it." According to psy ...
and
isolation. Intellectually however he remained as much indebted to the French tradition of
Pierre Janet and
Henri Claude as to Freud; and the tensions implicit in his competing allegiances contributed to his debate with Freud over the French introduction of the term
scotomization. Initially welcomed as a description of the blocking of unpleasant perceptions in
hysteria by Freud, the latter swiftly turned against it, arguing that Laforgue himself maintained "that 'scotomization' is a term that arises from descriptions of dementia praecox, which does not arise from a carrying over of psychoanalytic concepts".
Despite their theoretical disagreement, the two men remained on friendly terms, Laforgue visiting the Freuds on occasion in the 1920s: he would in the 1950s write a memoir of them, which offers a rare glimpse of
Martha Freud
Martha Bernays ( , ; 26 July 1861 – 2 November 1951) was the wife of Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud.
Bernays was the second daughter of Emmeline and Berman Bernays. Her paternal grandfather Isaac Bernays was a Chief Rabbi of Hamburg.
B ...
as "a practical woman, marvellously skillful in creating an atmosphere of peace and ''
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 ...
''".
[Quoted in P. Gay, ''Freud'' (1989) p. 61]
Bibliography
* Clinical Aspects of Psycho-Analysis. Hogarth Press, 1938
* The defeat of Baudelaire: A psycho-analytical study of the neurosis of
Charles Baudelaire
Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticism inherited ...
. Norwood Editions, 1978
Bibliography about him
*
Alain de Mijolla, ''Freud et la France, 1885–1945'', Presses Universitaires de France, 2010 ()
* M.O. Poivet, ''René Laforgue. Sa place originale dans la naissance du mouvement psychanalytique français.'' (1978). dirigé par
André Bourguignon (Université de Paris Val-de-Marne, Créteil).
* Martine Lilamand, ''René Laforgue, fondateur du mouvement psychanalytique français. Sa vie, son œuvre.'' (1980). dirigé par
André Bourguignon (Université de Paris Val-de-Marne, Créteil).
* Annick Ohayon : ''Psychologie et psychanalyse en France. L'impossible rencontre 1919–1969'', Ed. La Découverte, 2006,
See also
References
External links
*
1894 births
1962 deaths
People from Thann, Haut-Rhin
People from Alsace-Lorraine
French psychoanalysts
French psychiatrists
{{France-psychiatrist-stub