Abraham Brill facts for kids
Abraham Arden Brill (born October 12, 1874 – died March 2, 1948) was an important doctor from Austria. He moved to the United States and became a psychiatrist. A psychiatrist is a doctor who helps people with their thoughts and feelings. Brill was the first psychoanalyst in the U.S. A psychoanalyst helps people understand their unconscious mind. He was also the first person to translate the famous doctor Sigmund Freud's books into English.
Early Life and School
Brill was born in Kańczuga, a place that was part of Austria at the time. His family was Jewish. When he was only 15, he came to the United States all by himself and had no money. He worked hard to pay for his education.
He graduated from New York University in 1901. Then, he became a medical doctor from Columbia University in 1903. One of his friends, Ernest Jones, said Brill was like a "rough diamond," meaning he was a bit tough but very valuable. After medical school, Brill worked at Central Islip State Hospital for four years.
Family Life
Abraham Brill married K. Rose Owen. They had two children together. He passed away in New York City at Mount Sinai Hospital on March 2, 1948.
His Career and Work
After his studies, Brill went to Zurich, Switzerland, to learn from a doctor named Eugen Bleuler. There, he met Sigmund Freud, who was a very famous doctor. Brill and Freud stayed in touch through letters until Freud died in 1939.
Brill came back to the United States in 1908. He became one of the first and most active people to teach about psychoanalysis. He was the first to translate many of Freud's main books into English. He also translated books by another important doctor, Carl Jung. His first translation of Freud's work came out in 1909. Even though some people questioned his translations, he helped a lot to bring psychoanalysis to America.
He worked hard to get universities to accept psychoanalysis as a real field of study. He gave lectures at Columbia University. He also became a professor of psychiatry at New York University. Besides teaching, he also had his own practice where he helped patients using psychoanalysis.
In 1911, Brill started the New York Psychoanalytic Society. Later, he helped create the American Psychoanalytic Association. The library at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute is named after him to honor his work.
Brill also helped many doctors who had to leave Europe during the 1930s because of the Nazis. He found jobs for them in the United States.
He also advised Edward Bernays, who was a public relations expert. Bernays used Brill's idea of "torches of freedom" to encourage women to smoke in public.
One of Brill's last writings was a foreword for a book by Eric Berne in 1947. In it, Brill praised Berne for explaining new ideas about psychology in a clear way. Brill said he had read everything written about Freud and psychoanalysis since he first brought these ideas to America.
See also
In Spanish: Abraham Brill para niños
