Melanie Klein

Austrian-British psychoanalyst and author

• Born: March 30, 1882
• Place of Birth: Vienna, Austria
• Died: September 22, 1960
• Place of Death: London, England

Education: Vienna Gymnasium; University of Vienna

Significance: Melanie Klein was one of the founding figures of psychoanalysis.

Background

Melanie Klein was born on March 30, 1882, in Vienna, Austria. Klein’s father, Moriz Reisez, belonged to an orthodox Jewish family from Lvov, Ukraine. Reisez had defied his parent’s wishes by studying and training to become a doctor instead of a rabbi. Reisez opened a private practice, and at age forty, he married Libusa Deutsch from Warbotz, Slovakia. The couple had four children together: Emilie, Emmanuel, Sidonie, and the youngest, Melanie. Melanie’s blissful childhood included close relationships with all three siblings. Emmanuel and Sidonie both played particularly important roles in Melanie’s young life. Emmanuel taught Melanie Greek and Latin, and he introduced her to the academic circles of Vienna. Sidonie taught Melanie how to read and write. Melanie became very depressed when in 1886, Sidonie died at the age of eight from tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis at the age of eight.

In 1898, Melanie wrote and passed her entrance exams with the intention of pursuing studies in psychiatric medicine and becoming a doctor. In 1899, at the age of seventeen, Melanie was introduced by Emmanuel to his friend and their second cousin, Arthur Stevan Klein. Arthur, a chemical engineering student in Zurich, proposed to Melanie soon after their first meeting. In 1900, Melanie’s father died at the age of seventy-two, and two years later, on December 1, 1902, Emmanuel died in Genoa of heart failure at the age of twenty-five.

In 1903, Melanie married Arthur, and the two of them moved to his family’s home in Rosenberg, Slovakia. After her marriage, Melanie was unable to continue her studies as she intended due to the constant traveling necessitated by her husband’s engineering career. Melanie had begun to study history at the University of Vienna. Melanie and Arthur had three children, Melitta, Hans, and Eric. However, Melanie was unhappy in the marriage and regretted not being able to continue her studies. In 1910, the family moved to Budapest, and it was there that Melanie first encountered the work of Sigmund Freud. Melanie began to study and practice psychoanalysis after reading Freud’s paper, "On Dreams." While in Budapest, Melanie encountered Sándor Firenze, who was a close associate of Freud, and she and Firenze discussed psychoanalysis at length. She took his advice when he recommended that she take up the study of the psychoanalysis of young children.

Life’s Work

In 1914, the birth of her last child further stimulated Klein’s interest in studying children. In 1918, she attended the Fifth Psychoanalytic Congress at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest, and it was here that she heard Freud read his paper, "Lines of Advance in Psychoanalytic Therapy." Klein was inspired by Freud and fascinated with psychoanalysis. In 1918, Klein became a member of the Budapest Psychoanalytic Society and wrote her first paper, which was entitled "The Development of a Child." In 1921, she was introduced to Karl Abraham, who studied the early stages of infantile development, and she was motivated to continue her own work with children. Klein eventually moved to Berlin, Germany, where she opened a psychoanalytic practice for children. Also in 1921, she was invited by Abraham to join the Berlin Psychoanalytic Institute.

Klein now developed the fundamental principles and setting for her technique of child analysis. A simple room was created for the child, and this space included amenities such as running water, small toys, a chair, a table, and furniture. The child would then be placed in the room to be studied and analyzed. The idea behind this technique of child analysis assumed that the child would recreate both an inner world of fantasies and, with this world’s links to external reality, present and past by using the tools provided in the room. This application of child psychoanalysis led to the understanding of early infantile fantasies, anxieties, and defenses. Klein was the first psychologist to view children’s play as a meaningful activity, and her play method later contributed to the advancement of play therapy.

Although Klein still held Freud in high regard, she came to disagree with him on a few key points. Freud believed that the superego did not manifest itself before the age of five. Klein disagreed with Freud on this question, and she theorized that the superego had its roots in the earliest experiences in the first oral phase. In 1927, she attended the Symposium on Child Analysis, and she got into a discussion with Anna Freud, Sigmund Freud’s daughter. Anna was also a child psychologist. During their talk, Klein argued with Anna, saying that a therapist could psychoanalyze children by watching them play rather than by having them verbalize their feelings. Due to the conflict between Anna Freud and Klein in their child psychoanalysis approaches, Klein was pushed out of Berlin’s academic circle.

In 1925, the founder of the British Analytic Society, Ernest Jones, invited Klein to give a series of lectures in England. These lectures would provide the basis for her 1932 book, The Psychoanalysis of Children. In 1926, Klein moved to London after the death of Abraham, and she joined the British Psycho-Analytical Society, into whose ranks she was warmly welcomed. In 1930, Klein began to analyze adults as well as children, and she opened a private practice. In 1946, Klein published one of her most important papers, "Notes on Some Schizoid Mechanisms," which examined the mental functioning of infants in the first three months and their relationships with their mothers. Klein always regretted not being able to complete a degree, because she was often not respected in academic circles due to her lack of credentials. Klein remained in England until she died of cancer in 1960.

Impact

Klein developed a distinctive approach to psychoanalysis—object relations theory—that has been accorded a place of honor in the school of psychoanalysis. Object relations theory places the mother-infant relationship at the center of personality development. Klein’s approach has influenced the work of prominent psychologists such as John Bowlby and Donald Winnicott.

Personal Life

Klein was deeply unhappy in her marriage, and she was granted a divorce from her husband in 1922.

Bibliography

Carstea, Daniela. "The Versatility of the Kleinian Model. Melanie Klein's Theory and Formulations of Morality and Forgiveness." Journal of Psychology & Clinical Psychiatry, June 2023, DOI:10.15406/jpcpy.2023.14.00733. Accessed 29 Sept. 2024.

Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Melanie Klein: British Psychologist." Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., n.d. Web. 4 Feb. 2016. <http://www.britannica.com/biography/Melanie-Klein>.

Hinshelwood, R. D. Clinical Klein. London: Free Association, 1994. Print.

Hinshelwood, R. D. A Dictionary of Kleinian Thought. London: Free Association, 1989. Print.

"Klein, Melanie." Encyclopedia.com. HighBeam Research, 1968. Web. 4 Feb. 2016. <http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Melanie‗Klein.aspx#1>.

"Melanie Klein." Melanie Klein Trust.Melanie Klein Trust, n.d.Web. 4 Feb. 2016. <http://www.melanie-klein-trust.org.uk/home>.

"Melanie Klein." NNDB. NNDB, n.d. Web. 4 Feb. 2016. <http://www.nndb.com/people/549/000204934/>.

"Melanie Klein (1882–1960)." American Psychological Association.Society for the Psychology of Women, n.d. Web. 4 Feb. 2016. <http://www.apadivisions.org/division-35/about/heritage/melanie-klein-biography.aspx>.

Segal, Julia. Melanie Klein. London: Sage Publications, 1992. Print.