The Woman Between Freud and Jung
For decades, Sabina Spielrein (1885–1942) was known merely as a footnote in the history of psychoanalysis—the patient who had an affair with Carl Jung and caused a rift between him and Freud. Today, we know she was much more. She was a brilliant theorist in her own right, whose ideas about the “destructive” nature of sexuality anticipated Freud’s death drive (Thanatos) by nearly a decade.
Born in Russia to a wealthy Jewish family, Spielrein was admitted to the Burghölzli hospital in Zurich at age 19, suffering from “hysteria.” She became Jung’s first analytical patient. Their relationship evolved from doctor-patient to lovers to colleagues. She went on to become a psychoanalyst, practicing in Vienna, Geneva, and eventually the Soviet Union, where she helped pioneer child psychology before being murdered by the Nazis in 1942.
Biography & Timeline: Sabina Spielrein
Spielrein’s life is a tragedy of epic proportions, intertwined with the major cataclysms of the 20th century. After her recovery, she studied medicine and wrote her dissertation on schizophrenia, the first psychoanalytic dissertation ever written by a woman. She was a member of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society and influenced developmental psychology through her work with Jean Piaget.
She returned to Russia in 1923 to help build a new, “Marxist” psychoanalysis. However, as Stalin rose to power, psychoanalysis was banned. Her three brothers were executed during the Great Purge. In 1942, during the German occupation of Rostov-on-Don, Spielrein and her two daughters were marched into Zmiyevskaya Balka and shot.
Key Milestones in the Life of Sabina Spielrein
| Year | Event / Publication |
| 1885 | Born in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. |
| 1904 | Admitted to Burghölzli Mental Hospital; begins treatment with Jung. |
| 1911 | Graduates medical school; publishes “Destruction as the Cause of Coming Into Being.” |
| 1912 | Joins the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society; meets Freud. |
| 1923 | Returns to the Soviet Union to teach and practice. |
| 1942 | Murdered by the SS in Zmiyevskaya Balka. |
Major Concepts: Destruction and Creation
Destruction as the Cause of Coming Into Being
Spielrein’s most significant theoretical contribution is her 1912 paper, “Destruction as the Cause of Coming Into Being.” She argued that the reproductive drive contains a destructive component. To create something new, the old form must be destroyed.
The Insight: Love is not just “nice”; it is a dissolution of the ego. We fear intimacy because deep connection requires the partial death of our individual boundaries. This idea profoundly influenced Jung’s concept of transformation and Freud’s later theory of the Death Drive.
The Symbolic Language of Schizophrenia
In her dissertation, Spielrein analyzed the language of a patient with schizophrenia. She showed that the patient’s “delusions” were not nonsense, but a symbolic language attempting to articulate deep, archetypal truths. This anticipated the modern view that psychosis has meaning and structure.
The Conceptualization of Trauma: The Desire for Annihilation
Spielrein’s work offers a startling view of trauma. She suggested that there is a part of the psyche that desires dissolution. This is not just a “death wish” in the negative sense, but a longing to return to the undifferentiated wholeness of the universe.
In trauma, this drive becomes literalized. The survivor feels pulled toward self-destruction. Therapy involves helping the patient find symbolic ways to “die” and be reborn (e.g., through art, deep feeling, or creative change) so they do not have to physically destroy themselves. This aligns with the alchemical stage of Nigredo.
Legacy: The Mother of Analytical Psychology
For a long time, Sabina Spielrein was erased from history. Her papers were discovered in a Geneva basement in 1977, sparking a re-evaluation of her role. We now see her not just as a muse, but as a co-creator of depth psychology.
She stands as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. She transformed her own madness into a theory that helps us understand the madness of the world. She taught us that destruction and creation are twins, and that we cannot have one without the other.
Bibliography
- Spielrein, S. (1912). “Destruction as the Cause of Coming Into Being.” Jahrbuch für psychoanalytische und psychopathologische Forschungen.
- Covington, C., & Wharton, B. (Eds.). (2003). Sabina Spielrein: Forgotten Pioneer of Psychoanalysis. Brunner-Routledge.
- Carotenuto, A. (1982). A Secret Symmetry: Sabina Spielrein Between Jung and Freud. Pantheon.
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