Tatiana Rosenthal facts for kids

Tatiana Rosenthal (born in 1885, died in 1921) was a smart doctor from the Russian Empire. She was a specialist in how our brains and nerves work (a neurologist). She also became a very important person in a new field called psychoanalysis.

Her Life Story

Tatiana Rosenthal was born in Saint Petersburg in 1885. When she was young, she supported the Russian Revolution of 1905. This was a big protest where people wanted changes in their country. After this, she moved to Switzerland. There, she studied medicine at the University of Zurich and became a doctor.

Learning About the Mind

After finishing her medical studies, Tatiana went to Vienna. In Vienna, she joined a special group led by Sigmund Freud. Freud was a famous doctor who developed a new way to understand the human mind, called psychoanalysis. This group later became the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society.

In 1911, Tatiana wrote an important paper. It was about a Danish writer named Karen Michaelis. Tatiana used psychoanalysis to understand the writer's work. This was one of the first times psychoanalysis was used to study books and stories.

Working as a Doctor

When World War I started, Tatiana Rosenthal went back to Saint Petersburg. She worked as a neurologist at a place called Vladimir Bekhterev’s Brain Institute. A neurologist is a doctor who treats problems with the brain and nerves.

Even though Bekhterev himself did not fully believe in psychoanalysis, he saw Tatiana's talent. He made her the head of the outpatient clinic. This is a part of a hospital where people get medical help without staying overnight. She was allowed to use psychoanalysis to help patients there. Because of her work, she became the person who started psychoanalysis in St. Petersburg.

Understanding Art and People

Tatiana was also very interested in how art connects to our minds. In 1920, she wrote a paper about the famous writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky. She tried to explain how his own struggles and suffering might have influenced his creative writing.

While she was in St. Petersburg, Tatiana had a child. She passed away in 1921.

Her Writings

• 'Stradanie i tvortchestvo v Dostoïevskoni' [Suffering and creation in Dostoyevski], Voprosi psychologiu litschnosty, 1920