Changes

'''[[Anna O]].''' ([[27 February]] [[1859]] - [[28 May]] [[1936]]) was the [[pseudonym]] used for '''Bertha Pappenheim''' by physician and physiologist [[Josef Breuer]] in his book ''"[[Studies on Hysteria]]"'', written in collaboration with [[Sigmund Freud]]. Her sister, [[Marie Pappenheim]], as a medical student, wrote the libretto, depicting a [[woman]]'s [[mental ]] breakdown, for [[Arnold Schoenberg]]'s ''[[Erwartung]]''.

She suffered from [[hysterical paralysis]], where one of her arms was paralyzed even though there was [[nothing ]] medically or physically wrong with it. After study, it was discovered this was the arm she had cradled her dying [[father ]] with. It was theorised that she was [[unconsciously ]] stopping the use of the arm as [[punishment ]] because she blamed herself for her father's [[death]].

Through [[analysis ]] with [[Breuer]], it was discovered that by talking [[about ]] what had happened when the [[symptoms ]] started, she would recover a [[repressed ]] fact and then recover a bit. This is what Pappenheim called her "talking [[cure]]". Breuer called [[The Act|the act ]] of recovery through this method [[catharsis]]. This [[case ]] was the beginning of [[psychoanalysis]], which would be later heavily developed by [[Freud]].

Bertha went to a [[Catholic ]] [[school]], there [[being ]] no [[Jewish ]] day school in Vienna at the [[time]]. Despite her father’s orthodoxy, she had a [[liberal ]] upbringing. According to Breuer, she was ‘thoroughly unreligious’, had a powerful intellect with great poetic and imaginative gifts. She could [[speak ]] [[English]], [[French ]] and Italian, as well as Hebrew and Yiddish.

While Breuer said she led a monotonous [[existence ]] as a ‘superior young lady’, this is at odds with the picture of a lively young woman in riding habit. As was common for [[women ]] from her background, she went horse riding, did needlework, played the piano [until late in [[life]]] and went to the theatre; she especially enjoyed [[Shakespeare]].

After [[discharge ]] from the Sanatorium Bellevue, she stayed with relatives in [[Germany ]] for some months and attended a nursing course at the Union [[Clinic ]] in Karlsruhe. Returning to Vienna in 1883, she relapsed and had [[three ]] long stays at Inzerdorf sanatorium. By 1888, she had recovered and moved with her [[mother ]] to Frankfurt, Germany where her career in [[social ]] [[work ]] began.

She founded and directed a home for orphaned Jewish girls for twelve years. After her mother’s death in 1905, she lived at the orphanage. In 1904 she founded the [[League of Jewish Women]], followed in 1907 by a teaching institution affiliated with the organization. She led an international campaign against [[prostitution]], described as ‘White Slavery,’ involving young Jewish women from Eastern [[Europe ]] and the Near East. She travelled widely in Eastern Europe and the [[Middle East]], often experiencing hardship, if not [[danger]], to inspect brothels. There were also visits to [[Palestine]], [[London]], [[Paris]] and [[New York City]] to publicise her campaign.

Her work, although not always free of controversy, was regarded as a beacon for [[others]]. Her dedication was legendary and she is considered the founder of [[social work]] in Germany.

She wrote extensively: fairy stories, Jewish prayers, and a play depicting [[female ]] characters who were exploited by men. She maintained a wide correspondence, much of which was destroyed during the war, including an [[exchange ]] with the [[philosopher ]] [[Martin Buber]].

By all accounts, Bertha was a lively engaging [[personality]], free of [[psychological ]] problems. She lived alone and never [[married]]. She had a [[good ]] [[sense ]] of humour, loved good food and had a fine collection of glass, porcelain and tapestry.

Bertha returned to Vienna in 1935, dying of cancer on [[28 May]] [[1936]], heavy with foreboding at the [[tragedy ]] she predicted for European Jewry. Her grave lies in the Old Jewish Cemetery of Frankfurt. Her death was commemorated with a 40-page special edition of a journal she had founded.

In 1954, Bertha Pappenheim was honoured as a pioneer social worker with the issue of a stamp by the West [[German ]] Republic.

What Bertha Pappenheim [[thought ]] about "Anna O." cannot be known as she is alleged to have destroyed any documents pertaining to her [[childhood ]] or youthful [[illness]]. [[Dora ]] Edinger, her biographer, disclosed that while she never discussed the illness with relatives, she was always scathing about psychoanalysis.

Some indication of her attitude is gleaned from the one of her doctors at [[Bellevue Sanatorium]] who noted her "disparaging judgements against the ineffectiveness of [[science ]] in [[regard ]] to her sufferings." In later years, she exclaimed, "As long as I live, psychoanalysis will never penetrate my establishments."

Bertha Pappenheim’s paternal grandfather, Wolf Pappenheim, a descendent of Rabbi Nathan, came from the town Pappenheim in [[Bavaria]]; the [[family ]] [[name ]] was derived from there. Later he inherited a fortune from his wife (neé Calman) and moved to the [[Pressburg]] [[Ghetto]]. He had two sons, Kalman and Siegmund, Bertha’s father.

Siegmund Pappenheim settled in [[Vienna]] as a wealthy grain merchant. A practising orthodox Jew, he contributed to the Schiffshul synagogue building fund. After the death of her mother in 1879, he was appointed guardian of Freud’s [[future ]] wife, [[Martha Bernays]], who became friendly with Bertha.

Recha Goldschmidt, Bertha’s mother, was [[born ]] in [[Frankfurt am Main]]. Her father, Benedikt Salomon Goldschmidt, a commodities merchant, married first Bella Braunschweig, then after her death, her sister Sprinze (Sabina). The family was prominent, with connections to many well-known Jewish families, including the Hombergers, Warburgs and Rothschilds. Among her antecedents were Heinrich Heine and the acclaimed diarist, Glückel of Hameln.

The Pappenheim [[marriage ]] in 1848 had been arranged, as was often customary at the time. The family lived in the Leipoldstadt [[Jewish Quarter]] before moving in 1880 to Liechtensteinstraße (close to where the Freuds lived). Recha Pappenheim never enjoyed [[living ]] in Vienna away from her family. There are speculative claims the [[relationship ]] was unhappy and Siegmund Pappenheim frequented brothels, but no evidence [[exists ]] for this.

Breuer described Recha Pappenheim as "very serious"; [[Jones]], less respectfully, as "somewhat of a dragon". She lost two daughters; Flora died three years before Bertha was born, and Henriette died of tuberculous meningitis when Bertha was eight.

Bertha’s brother Wilhelm practiced law in Vienna. He was described as ‘an accomplished gentleman’ with the most [[complete ]] [[library ]] on [[socialism ]] in Europe. The siblings were estranged, Bertha claiming he bullied her unmercifully during childhood.

[[Category:Famous patientsPatients]]