Spielrein’s Charm in the 19e Siècle: Oscillating Between Inspiring Muse and Pioneering Psychoanalyst

Sabina Spielrein was a Russian psychoanalyst who worked in Zurich, Berlin, Geneva, Moscow, and Rostov-on-Don. She influenced, among others, Jung, Freud, Piaget, Claparède, Vygotsky, and Luria. After she died in the Shoah, her life and works faded into obscurity until the discovery of correspondence revealing her deep relationship with Jung. This article gives an account of her life. It also offers a possible assessment of her relationship with Carl G. Jung, based on Antonia Wolff’s theory and focusing on some categories of analytical psychology.