Martha Bernays facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Martha Bernays
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Martha Bernays (1882)
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| Born | 26 July 1861 Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
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| Died | 2 November 1951 (aged 90) London, England
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| Spouse(s) | Sigmund Freud (m.1886–1939; his death) |
| Children | 6, including Ernst and Anna |
| Relatives | Isaac Bernays (grandfather) Michael Bernays (uncle) Edward Bernays (nephew) |
Martha Bernays (born July 26, 1861 – died November 2, 1951) was the wife of the famous Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. She was an important part of his life and supported his work.
Her Family Background
Martha Bernays grew up in a family that followed Orthodox Judaism. This means they were very strict about Jewish traditions and rules. Her parents were Berman Bernays and Emmeline Philipp.
Her grandfather, Isaac Bernays, was a very important religious leader. He was the chief rabbi of Hamburg, a city in Germany. He was also a distant relative of the German poet Heinrich Heine. Martha's uncle, Michael Bernays, was a professor of German at the University of Munich.
The Bernays family and the Freud family knew each other well. For example, Martha's older brother Eli married Sigmund Freud's younger sister. However, the Freud family was more relaxed about Jewish traditions. Sigmund Freud himself did not follow many religious rituals. Martha once said that not being able to light the Sabbath candles on her first Friday night after getting married was a very upsetting experience for her.
Martha was also the aunt of Edward Bernays. He was an American publicist and is known as the "father of public relations". Public relations is about managing how people see a company or person. Her cousins, Julius and Oscar Philipp, started a company called Philipp Brothers. It became one of the biggest metal trading companies in the world.
Meeting and Marriage
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Sigmund Freud and Martha Bernays first met in April 1882. They were engaged for four years before they got married. Their wedding took place on September 14, 1886, in Hamburg.
During their engagement, Freud sent Martha more than 900 long letters. These letters showed how deeply they loved each other. Freud's biographer, Ernest Jones, said their letters were a wonderful example of love literature. Freud often wrote things like, "I love you with a kind of passionate enchantment."
Their marriage was very happy. Martha later said that in their 53 years of marriage, they never had a single angry word between them. They had six children: Mathilde (born 1887), Jean-Martin (born 1889), Oliver (born 1891), Ernst (born 1892), Sophie (born 1893), and Anna (born 1895).
Martha Freud passed away in 1951. Her ashes were placed in the same ancient Greek urn as her husband's. This urn is located in the Freud Corner at Golders Green Crematorium in London.
Her Personality
When Martha Bernays was young, she was described as slim and attractive. She was also charming, smart, and well-educated. She loved to read throughout her life.
As a married woman, Martha was very good at managing her home. She was very organized and cared a lot about being on time and keeping things clean. She was a firm but loving mother to her children. One French analyst, René Laforgue, said she brought a feeling of peaceful "joie de vivre" (joy of living) to their home. However, Martha did not have a very close relationship with her youngest daughter, Anna.
See also
In Spanish: Martha Bernays para niños
- Family nexus
- Freud family
- Love triangle
