Sabina Spielrein: a Forgotten Pioneer of Child Analysis?

Join us for this fascinating talk from the Centre for Childhood Studies with John Launer and Ana Tomcic

The Russian psychoanalyst Sabina Spielrein (1885-1942), has been the subject of a remarkable succession of historical evaluations and reassessments. For around forty years she was virtually forgotten. Following the publication of the Freud-Jung letters in 1974, and then a selection of her own diaries and letters in the 1980s, attention became focused on her relationship with Carl Jung. Since the turn of the twenty-first century, however, scholars have increasingly claimed a place for Spielrein as a key figure in early psychoanalytic thinking. Our talk will focus on Spielrein’s contribution to childhood studies, particularly her innovative account of the development of child language. Spielrein formulated a theory of language development that includes biological, relational and psycho-social aspects and which greatly influenced thinkers like Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky, as well as key a number of key psychoanalytic figures.

The Speakers

John Launer is a doctor, family therapist and writer. He is the author of "Sex Versus Survival: the Life and Ideas of Sabina Spielrein" (Duckworth Books, 2013), the first full length biography of Spielrein in English. John is an honorary lifetime consultant at the Tavistock Clinic in London, an honorary associate professor at University College London and lead programme director for educational innovation in primary care for the NHS in London. He is a founder member of the International Association for Spielrein Studies and on its committee.

Ana Tomcic is a cultural historian. She completed her PhD at the University of Exeter. Ana previously worked on ideas of progress in psychoanalysis and modernist literature and film and is currently writing a book entitled Rethinking Progress: Psychoanalysis, Modernism and Queer Development. Together with John Launer, she has also written about Sabina Spielrein, particularly the later phase of her work. Her current research focuses on psychoanalytic approaches to juvenile delinquency and the intersections between psychoanalysis and education. In the UK and her native Croatia, Ana has also worked as a teacher with various age groups and has taken part in numerous widening participation projects