Psychobiography Reading Group
of the Psychohistory Forum

4th Meeting
August 5^th, 2023 (11:00am – 1pm EDT; rooms open at 10:30 am)

The Psychobiography Research and Publication Group of the Psychohistory Forum, with the strong support of Inna Rozentsvit and Ken Fuchsman, has created the virtual Psychobiography Reading Group. Our expectation is that we will meet once in two months and that we should work hard to keep this as a serious psychoanalytic approach to psychobiography. Subsequently, our focus will be on classic works of psychodynamic psychobiography, with the bottom-up approach rather coming from explicit underlying theories.

To learn more about our first 3 meetings, visit the following webpages:

1^st meeting on February 25^th, 2023: Psychobiography Reading Group. Reading J. Anderson’s Chapter “Winnicott’s Constant Search for the Life that Feels Real.” (https://psychohistoryforum.com/psychobiography-reading-group-of-the-psychohistory-forum/)

2^nd meeting on April 1^st, 2023: Psychobiography Reading Group. Reading E. Erikson’s Gandhi’s Truth: On the Origins of Militant Nonviolence. (https://psychohistoryforum.com/psychobiography-reading-group-of-the-psychohistory-forum/)

3^rd meeting on June 3^rd, 2023: Psychobiography Reading Group. Reading E. Erikson’s Young Man Luther. (https://psychohistoryforum.com/psychobiography-reading-group-reading-e-eriksons-young-man-luther-a-study-in-psychoanalysis-and-history/)

For our 4^th meeting, we will be reading the Preface and Chapters 1 and 2 of Lawrence Friedman’s Identity’s Architect: A Biography of Erik H. Erikson.

This reading selection is available for download via the following link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/d1b8pcu9459gfxw/L.Friedman%20-%20Identity%27s%20Architect%20-%20a%20Biography%20of%20Erik%20Erikson%2C%20pp%201-101.pdf?dl=0

This book presents a biography of Erik H. Erikson, postwar America’s most influential psychoanalyst, who reshaped our views of human development. Drawing on private materials and interviews with Erikson’s family, students, and colleagues around the world, the author illuminates the relationship between Erikson’s personal life and his groundbreaking ideas. This book lays bare the identity crisis that was at the root of Erikson’s lifelong quest to discover who his father was. Friedman shows how Erikson’s 8-stage model of the human life cycle grew from the birth of his 3rd son, who was born developmentally handicapped. Even his studies of M. Luther, M. Gandhi, T. Jefferson, and Jesus were inseparable from his life circumstances. The book also examines how Erikson’s influence as a teacher reverberates through the work of his students who have gone on to prominence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

If you would like to read the whole book – it can be downloaded from here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/k1di7uadrt4h7v2/L.Friedman%20-%20Identity%27s%20Architect%20-%20a%20Biography%20of%20Erik%20Erikson.pdf?dl=0

Please note that we have chosen short readings to ensure that it will be read ahead of time.
Individuals who have not done the readings for this group will need to stay muted to establish this as a true discussion group. Participation is free, but the registration/ RSVP is required – via the following form:

We look forward to deepening our knowledge of this psychohistorical approach together, as we probe the lives of fascinating and important people.

If you are interested in joining this group, even if you cannot attend the meeting on June 3^rd, please fill out the registration form above and/or contact Inna Rozentsvit at inna.rozentsvit@gmail.com or Paul H. Elovitz at cliospsycheeditor@gmail.com.

Best regards,

Paul Elovitz

Paul H. Elovitz, PhD, Historian, Research Psychoanalyst, Online Psychohistory Professor, Psychohistory Forum Director, and Editor, Clio’s Psyche; Author, The Making of Psychohistory: Origins, Controversies, and Pioneering Contributors (Routledge, 2018); Editor, The Many Roads of the Builders of Psychohistory (ORI Academic Press, 2021); Author/Editor of other books. See CliosPsyche.org for additional information.