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Sonu Shamdasani (born 1962) is a London-based author, editor in chief, and professor at
University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...
. His research and writings focus on
Carl Gustav 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, phil ...
(1875–1961), and cover the history of psychiatry and psychology from the mid-nineteenth century to current times. Shamdasani edited the first publication of Jung's major work: ''Liber Novus, The Red Book''. Although its title had been well known for years, it was not until 2009 that its contents were revealed to the public and practicing
psychotherapists Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome prob ...
.


Education and academic career

He gained his BA from
Bristol University , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...
in 1984, followed by an
MSc MSC may refer to: Computers * Message Sequence Chart * Microelectronics Support Centre of UK Rutherford Appleton Laboratory * MIDI Show Control * MSC Malaysia (formerly known as Multimedia Super Corridor) * USB mass storage device class (USB MS ...
in the History of Science and Medicine at
University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...
/ Imperial College London. Later Shamdasani was awarded a PhD in the History of Medicine from University College London's
Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine The Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine (1968–1999) was a London centre for the study and teaching of medical history. It consisted of the Wellcome Library and an Academic Unit. The former was and is a world-class library collection ...
. He then became a professor at the Institute. In a 2009 interview with the '' Times of India'', Shamdasani gave this brief biographical note:
"I am a
Sindhi Sindhi may refer to: *something from, or related to Sindh, a province of Pakistan * Sindhi people, an ethnic group from the Sindh region * Sindhi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them People with the name * Sarkash Sindhi (1940–2012 ...
, I was born in Singapore and grew up in England. I first encountered Jung when I was travelling in India in my teens, looking for a guru. The first work of his that I came across was his commentary to ''
The Secret of the Golden Flower ''The Secret of the Golden Flower'' () is a Chinese Taoist book on neidan (inner alchemy) meditation, which also mixes Buddhist teachings with some Confucian thoughts. It was written by means of the spirit-writing (fuji) technique, through tw ...
'', which was my first introduction to psychology. I then saw the text as promising the possibility of a mediation between Eastern mysticism and Western rationality. After further study, I thought that contemporary psychology and psychotherapy was in a mess, and I wanted to figure out how it had got into this state. This led me to the studying the history of psychology".
In 2003 Shamdasani founded, along with Stephen Martin, the
Philemon Foundation The Philemon Foundation is a non-profit organization that exists to prepare for publication the ''Complete Works'' of Carl Gustav Jung, beginning with the previously unpublished manuscripts, seminars and correspondences. It is estimated that an add ...
, which sought to publish all of Jung's works. Although Jung's ''Collected Works'' had been published in twenty volumes, there were manuscripts and other works by Jung that remained unpublished. Shamdasani commenced and continues now his labors at Philemon as the foundation's General Editor. Currently (2016) Shamdasani serves as a professor in the School of European Languages, Culture, and Society (SELCS) at University College London, and is also Director of the UCL Centre for the History of Psychological Disciplines.


The ''Red Book''

By 2000 Shamdasani had arranged to begin work editing Jung's '' The Red Book''. In 2003 he stepped in as Editor of the Philemon Foundation's successful project to publish, in 2009, this much awaited volume. Although Jung had worked on the writing and the designs for it between 1914 and 1930, he did not then have it published. In 1959 Jung added a short Epilogue to his ''Red Book'', commenting on his 'confrontation with the unconscious' that started prior to World War I: "It could have developed into adnesshad I not been able to hold the overpowering force of the original experiences. ... I knew of nothing better than to write them down... and to paint the images that appeared when reliving it allas well as I could." Shamdasani describes Jung's unusual work, an illustrated volume of calligraphy, as "the book that stands at the center of his oeuvre" which "has long been recognized as the key to comprehending" Jung. The ''Red Book'' "was at the center of Jung's self-experimentation." Earlier Shamdasani stated:
If one does not place Jung's confrontation with the unconscious in a proper perspective, or understand the significance of the ''Red Book'', one is in no place to understand fully Jung's intellectual development from 1913 onwards, and not only that, but his life as well: it was his inner life which dictated his movements in the world. ... For Jung's work on his fantasies in ''
Black Books ''Black Books'' is a British sitcom created by Dylan Moran and Graham Linehan, and written by Moran, Kevin Cecil, Andy Riley, Linehan and Arthur Mathews. It was broadcast on Channel 4, running for three series from 2000 to 2004. Starring Mor ...
'' and the ''Red Book'' formed the core of his later work, as he himself contended. The ''Red Book'' is at the center of Jung's life and work. nderstanding Jungwithout an accurate account of it would be like writing the life of Dante without the ''Commedia'', or
Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tre ...
without ''Faust''.
Jung's heirs had for many decades held the original manuscript of the ''Red Book'' in a bank vault for safe-keeping. They withheld its publication and declined offers to do so. During the 1990s Shamdasani's research, however, had uncovered the existence of text from the Book outside the family's control. Another transcription was found by Marie-Louise von Franz. It was demonstrated that Jung had sent a copy of his manuscript to a publisher. Shamdasani entered into delicate negotiations with Jung's descendants in Zürich and, in May 2000, obtained their agreement "to release the work for publication".Nina Martyris, "Autobiography of a Soul" in ''The Times of India'', 12 December 2009. Interview with Shamdasani about his editorship of Jung's ''Red Book''. His editing tasks then began.


Selected bibliography

;Author *''Cult Fictions: C. G. Jung and the Founding of Analytical Psychology'' (London: Routledge, 1998). *''Jung and the Making of Modern Psychology: The Dream of a Science'' (Cambridge University Press, 2003). *''Jung Stripped Bare by His Biographers, Even'' (London: Karnac Books, 2004). * ''C. G. Jung. A biography in Books'' (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012). ;Co-author * Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen & Shamdasani, ''Le Dossier
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 ...
. Enquête sur l'histoire de la psychoanalyse'' (Paris: Les empêcheurs de penser en rond/ Le Seuil, 2006). * James Hillman & Shamdasani, ''Lament of the Dead. Psychology After Jung's Red Book'' (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2013). ;Editor * C. G. Jung, ''The Psychology of
Kundalini In Hinduism, Kundalini ( sa, कुण्डलिनी, translit=kuṇḍalinī, translit-std=IAST, lit=coiled snake, ) is a form of divine feminine energy (or ''Shakti'') believed to be located at the base of the spine, in the '' muladhara ...
Yoga. Notes of the Seminar Given in 1932 by C. G. Jung'' (Bollingen/Princeton University, 1996), Introduction by Shamdasani. * C. G. Jung, '' The Red Book. Liber Novus'' (Philemon Series & New York/London: W. W. Norton & Company, 2009), Introduction by Shamdasani. * C. G. Jung, ''History of Modern Psychology: Lectures Delivered at the ETH Zurich, Volume 1, 1933–1934'' (Philemon Series & Princeton University Press, 2018). * C. G. Jung, ''The
Black Books ''Black Books'' is a British sitcom created by Dylan Moran and Graham Linehan, and written by Moran, Kevin Cecil, Andy Riley, Linehan and Arthur Mathews. It was broadcast on Channel 4, running for three series from 2000 to 2004. Starring Mor ...
of C.G. Jung (1913–1932)'' (Stiftung der Werke von C. G. Jung & W. W. Norton & Company, 2020).


References


External links


Prof. Sonu Shamdasani page at SELCS, UCL

Philemon Foundation website
* Sara Corbett

in ''The New York Times'', 16 September 2009. * Nina Martyris
"Autobiography of a Soul"
in ''The Times of India'', 12 December 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Shamdasani, Sonu British psychologists 1962 births Living people British historians Academics of University College London Alumni of the University of Bristol Alumni of University College London British Hindus Sindhi people British people of Indian descent Carl Jung Date of birth missing (living people) British people of Sindhi descent Historians of psychology