Léon Chertok or Lejb Tchertok (31 October 1911 in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

Vilna Governorate The Vilna Governorate (1795–1915; also known as Lithuania-Vilnius Governorate from 1801 until 1840; russian: Виленская губерния, ''Vilenskaya guberniya'', lt, Vilniaus gubernija, pl, gubernia wileńska) or Government of V ...

– 6 July 1991 in

Deauville Deauville () is a commune in the Calvados department, Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its harbour, race course, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino, and sumptuous hotels. The first Deauville Asian Film Fes ...

), was a French

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

known for his work on hypnosis and

psychosomatic medicine Psychosomatic medicine is an interdisciplinary medical field exploring the relationships among social, psychological, behavioral factors on bodily processes and quality of life in humans and animals. The academic forebear of the modern field of ...

Biography

Chertok obtained his doctorate in medicine in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

in 1938. He came to Paris in 1939, and joined the

French resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

. He was awarded the

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

. In 1947 he worked in a psychiatric ward at Mount Sinai Hospital in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, in a psychosomatic unit directed by the psychoanalyst

Lawrence Kubie Lawrence Schlesinger Kubie (17 March 1896– 27 October 1973) was an American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who practiced in New York City from 1930 to 1959. Kubie had several celebrity patients, including Tennessee Williams, Leonard Bernstein, Mos ...

. When back in France he underwent analysis with

Jacques Lacan Jacques Marie Émile Lacan (, , ; 13 April 1901 – 9 September 1981) was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist. Described as "the most controversial psycho-analyst since Freud", Lacan gave yearly seminars in Paris from 1953 to 1981, and pu ...

from 1948 until 1954. From 1948 to 1949 he worked as an assistant for Marcel Montassut at the psychiatric hospital in

Villejuif Villejuif () is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Name The earliest reference to Villejuif appears in a bill signed by the Pope Callixtus II on 27 November 1119. It refers to Villa Ju ...

. In 1950 he organized the center for psychosomatic medicine at Villejuif, with Victor Gachkel; also visited 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, i ...

. During this period he did voluntary work under the urologist Pierre Aboulker. In the 1950s he went to the USA and let himself be hypnotized by

Milton Erickson Milton Hyland Erickson (5 December 1901 – 25 March 1980) was an American psychiatrist and psychologist specializing in medical hypnosis and family therapy. He was founding president of the American Society for Clinical Hypnosis and a fellow of ...

, and in Germany by

Johannes Heinrich Schultz Johannes Heinrich Schultz (June 20, 1884 – September 19, 1970) was a German psychiatrist and an independent psychotherapist. Schultz became world-famous for the development of a system of self-hypnosis called autogenic training. Life He stu ...

. It was at this time that he met the psychoanalyst

Raymond de Saussure Raymond de Saussure (; 2 August 1894 – 29 October 1971) was a Swiss psychoanalyst, the first president of the European Psychoanalytical Federation.H. Vermorel, 'Raymond de Saussure. First president of the European Psychoanalytical Federation', ...

and the specialist on

animal magnetism Animal magnetism, also known as mesmerism, was a protoscientific theory developed by German doctor Franz Mesmer in the 18th century in relation to what he claimed to be an invisible natural force (''Lebensmagnetismus'') possessed by all livi ...

Robert Amadou. In 1957 he took part in the founding of the French society of psychosomatic medicine, with Michel Sapir and Pierre Aboulker. In 1959, he gave his first lecture on hypnosis for psychoanalysts under the auspices of

Henri Ey Henri Ey (; 10 August 1900, Banyuls-dels-Aspres – 8 November 1977, Banyuls-dels-Aspres) was a French neurologist, psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and philosopher. Biography Ey was born on 10 August 1900 in Banyuls-dels-Aspres, Pyrénées-Orientales, ...

's society L'évolution psychiatrique. The end of the 1970s and the 1980s was marked by his exchanges with philosophers such as François Roustang,

Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen (born 1951) is a Professor of Comparative Literature and French at the University of Washington in Seattle, and the author of many works on the history and philosophy of psychiatry, psychoanalysis and hypnosis. Born to Danis ...

Michel Henry Michel Henry (; 10 January 1922 – 3 July 2002) was a French philosopher, phenomenologist and novelist. He wrote five novels and numerous philosophical works. He also lectured at universities in France, Belgium, the United States, and Japa ...

and

Isabelle Stengers Isabelle Stengers (; ; born 1949) is a Belgian philosopher, noted for her work in the philosophy of science. Trained as a chemist, she has collaborated with Russian-Belgian chemist Ilya Prigogine and French philosopher/sociologist Bruno Latour am ...

. Chertok found that the psychoanalysts neglected the practice and phenomenon of hypnosis, and thus made himself an object of fierce criticism from their side. He underwent, as mentioned, analysis with Jacques Lacan, and was a student of Francis Pasche, but he was not accepted as a member of the Societe Psychanalytique de Paris. Chertok also had some contact with Soviet psychiatrists. His position as a "heretic" led to his isolation and to the neglect of his ideas concerning hypnosis, thus favoring the Ericksonian school. In several books and papers written in collaboration with Isabelle Stengers Chertok repeatedly criticized traditional psychoanalysis and its institutions.

Works

* ''Psychosomatic methods in painless childbirth'', 1959 * ''Hypnosis'', 1966 * ''Psychophysical mechanisms of hypnosis'', 1969 * ''Psychotherapeutic action of doctors'', 1973 * ''The therapeutic revolution - from Mesmer to Freud'', 1979, with Raymond de Saussure * ''Sense and Nonsense in Psychotherapy: Challenge of Hypnosis'', 1981

References

* Elisabeth Roudinesco
''Jacques Lacan & Co: A History of Psychoanalysis in France, 1925-1985''
University of Chicago Press, 1990, p. 644. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chertok, Leon 1911 births 1991 deaths Physicians from Vilnius Soviet emigrants to France French psychiatrists Recipients of the Croix de Guerre (France) French Resistance members Analysands of Jacques Lacan 20th-century French physicians