Françoise Dolto facts for kids

Françoise Dolto (born November 6, 1908 – died August 25, 1988) was a French doctor who specialized in children's health (a pediatrician). She was also a psychoanalyst, which means she helped people understand their thoughts and feelings.

About Françoise Dolto

Françoise Dolto was born Françoise Marette in Paris, France. She grew up in a wealthy family with strong traditional beliefs. Her father, Henri Marette, was an engineer and businessman. Her mother, Suzanne Demmler, was also the daughter of an engineer. Françoise was the fourth of seven children. Her brother, Jacques Marette, later became a French government minister.

When she was a baby, an Irish nurse cared for her. Her parents even learned some English to make her smile. Françoise had a very strict upbringing.

Early Life and Education

A special tutor taught Françoise using methods from Friedrich Fröbel, who believed in learning through play. When she was eight, her uncle and godfather died in World War I. This was a sad time for her.

A few years later, when Françoise was twelve, her older sister Jacqueline passed away. This was very hard for her mother, who became depressed. Her mother sadly blamed Françoise for not praying enough for her sister's life.

Françoise's mother believed that girls should only get married. She did not want Françoise to continue her studies. But Françoise was determined. At sixteen, she stood up to her mother. She wanted to pass her baccalaureate, which is a high school diploma in France.

Françoise went to the Lycée Molière in Paris. She graduated in philosophy in 1924–1925. In 1930, she earned a nursing degree. A year later, she started studying medicine. She paid for her medical studies with her own earnings.

Françoise Dolto later became a mother herself. She had three children: Carlos (who became a famous singer), Grégoire (an engineer), and Catherine.

Her Work as a Psychoanalyst

In 1932, Françoise Dolto met a psychoanalyst named René Laforgue. He helped her understand her own personal struggles from her strict upbringing. Laforgue saw that Françoise was very good at understanding people. He suggested she become a psychoanalyst. At first, she wanted to focus only on medicine.

During her medical training, she worked with Dr. Georges Heuyer. There, she met Sophie Morgenstern, who was the first person to use psychoanalysis with children in France. Sophie Morgenstern became a mentor to Françoise. Françoise listened carefully to the children who came to her for treatment. With encouragement from Edouard Pichon, she decided to focus on child psychology. She became a psychoanalytic pediatrician.

Most of her patients were children facing serious mental health challenges. She started to develop her own special ways of helping them.

Understanding Children's Minds

Françoise Dolto studied the early mental stages of babies and young children. She was very interested in how they first experience the world and how they communicate using their bodies. She believed that the physical connection between a mother and baby was very important.

She also stressed how important it was to watch and understand how children with mental health problems or learning difficulties communicated. Her ideas about the "unconscious body image" were very important. This means how children understand their bodies and express themselves through body language, even before they can speak. Other experts, like Maud Mannoni, further developed her ideas. In 2013, her work was translated into English.

Dolto was a close friend and supporter of Jacques Lacan, another famous psychoanalyst. She joined him in creating the "École Freudienne de Paris" (Freudian School of Paris). She felt that people who had been helped by Lacan were best at understanding children. She believed they could truly understand what a child needed, even a very young one.

Death

Grave of Françoise Dolto

Françoise Dolto became ill with a lung disease in 1984. She passed away on August 25, 1988. She was buried in the cemetery at Bourg-la-Reine next to her husband, Boris Dolto. Her son, the singer Carlos, was also buried there after he died in 2008. On her tombstone, it says: "Have no fear! I am the Path, the Truth and the Life."

See also

In Spanish: Françoise Dolto para niños

• Juliette Favez-Boutonnier