Franz Alexander MD Papers, 1901 - 1986, bulk 1930 - 1964

Summary

Creator:
Alexander, Franz, 1891-1964
Abstract:
This collection contains the papers of Franz Alexander, a renowned Hungarian psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who is often described as one of the founders of psychosomatic medicine for his work in identifying emotional tension as a cause of physical illness and was also known for using psychoanalytic theories to study criminal behavior. The collection has 6 series: Franz Alexander Correspondence (1927-1986), Franz Alexander General Files (1931-1981), Franz Alexander Miscellaneous and Personal Files (1901-1956), Anita Alexander Files (1932-1964), Reprints and Publications (1925-1961), and Photographs (1927-1964).
Extent:
17 boxes 7.67 linear feet
Language:
English German Hungarian Italian

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains correspondence, documents, publications and professional writings, notes, photographs, and other personal and professional materials dating from 1901 to 1986, with the bulk of the material dating to the 1930s. The majority of the materials are in English, but there are a few letters and documents in German, Hungarian, and Italian. The papers are divided into six series: Franz Alexander Correspondence (1927-1986), Franz Alexander General Files (1931-1981), Franz Alexander Miscellaneous and Personal Files (1901-1956), Anita Alexander Files (1932-1964), Reprints and Publications (1925-1961), and Photographs (1927-1964). The papers came to the library already organized into categories by correspondence, other files, reprints and publications, and photographs. This original order has been maintained. In most cases, the individual folder structure has also been maintained, as the correspondence and the reprints and publications were organized alphabetically. An index was completed at an unknown date listing the contents of each of the original boxes and the title of each folder, and a copy of this list is stored with the collection.

Franz Alexander Correspondence: This series, arranged alphabetically by author, contains Alexander’s correspondence with colleagues and other entities, mostly professional in nature, but some personal. It includes correspondence related to appointments, translations, writings, talks, requests for articles, and requests for immigration assistance. Miscellaneous materials are filed at the end of the series.

Franz Alexander General Files: This series is arranged alphabetically by the name of the organization, company, or group and has been kept in the original order. It includes correspondence, papers, meeting programs, and requests for lectures. Miscellaneous materials are filed at the end of the series.

Franz Alexander Miscellaneous and Personal Files: This series includes lectures, articles, immigration and insurance documents, school transcripts for Alexander, and newspaper clippings, among other materials.

Anita Alexander Files: This series contains papers of Anita Alexander, Franz’s wife. It includes financial documents, receipts, condolences on Alexander’s death, correspondence with friend Pauline Phillips (Dear Abby), other correspondence, and materials related to Anita’s paintings in galleries and exhibits.

Reprints and Publications: This series is arranged alphabetically by title and predominantly contains reprints of Alexander’s published writings. The reprints arrived arranged alphabetically with a list of titles for each folder, but the folders have been reorganized. The original lists are stored with this series.

Photographs: This series contains professional portraits of Franz Alexander, some professional portraits of Anita and daughters Kiki and Silvia Alexander, many family snapshots and vacation photographs, and a photograph of Franz’s father, Bernard Alexander.

Biographical / historical:

Franz Gabriel Alexander (1891-1964) was a renowned Hungarian psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who is often described as one of the founders of psychosomatic medicine for his work in identifying emotional tension as a cause of physical illness and was also known for using psychoanalytic theories to study criminal behavior. Alexander was born on January 22, 1891 in Budapest and enrolled as the first student in the Berlin Psychoanalytic Institute in 1919. While there, he underwent a personal analysis with Hanns Sachs and later became an assistant at the Institute. His first book, The Psychoanalysis of the Total Personality (1930), grew out of a lecture series he presented at the Institute in 1924 and 1925. Alexander was invited to the United States in 1930 to serve as Visiting Professor of Psychoanalysis at the University of Chicago, a new post created specifically for him. After a year in Chicago, Alexander moved to Boston and completed a study of delinquency with William Healy. This work was presented in their book, Roots of Crime (1935).

In 1932, he returned to Chicago to help establish the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis and served as its director until 1956. As director, he sought to attract many analysts and students who researched and studied emotional disorders and psychosomatic diseases. He published another book in 1950, Psychosomatic Medicine: Its Principles and Practices. Alexander also served as a faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois Medical School in Chicago from 1938 to 1956. He held many other posts, fellowships, and consultancies during his professional years. In 1956, he became Chief of Staff of the new Psychiatric Department at Mount Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles and Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Southern California. He also served as a training and supervising analyst at the Southern California Psychoanalytic Institute. He died March 8, 1964 in Palm Springs, California.

Acquisition information:
The Franz Alexander Papers were donated by the Pollock family in 2014. These papers were given to Dr. George Pollock by Franz Alexander’s children in 1992. George Pollock, a psychiatrist, was a former director of the Institute for Psychoanalysis in Chicago and former president of the American Psychiatric Association. He had a close personal and professional relationship with Alexander and was working on a biography of him at the time of his death in 2003.

Access and use

Restrictions:

Folder 27 in Box 3 of Series I: Franz Alexander Correspondence, is restricted due PHI (private health information). It has been removed from Box 3 and stored separately.

Terms of access:

Written permission must be obtained from the Oskar Diethelm Library and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Location of this collection:
DeWitt Wallace Institute of Psychiatry: History, Policy and the Arts
Weill Cornell Medical College
525 East 68th Street, Box 140
New York, NY 10065, United States
Link to repository site
Contact:
212-746-3728