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The life of Heinrich Racker , short and rich, consists of a lattice of singular acts of creation and existential events, where moments of joy resound with sorrows and troubles that his spirit was able to overcome with temperance and serenity.
In the early 20th century, Naphtali Meyer Racker and Ella Spiegel and their three children – Miriam , Heinrich and Ephraim – lived in a small town in Poland. When World War I broke out, the family sought refuge in Vienna.
As a child, Heinrich proved intelligent and musically gifted. He was appointed music professor in a prestigious Viennese institution at a very young age.
His father’s illness ruined the family finances, and Heinrich had to replace him in the family business. Despite his desire to study medicine, he opted for the humanities, which also attracted him and was a shorter career.
In 1935, he obtained a doctorate in philosophy, and one year later he was admitted to the Vienna Institute of Psychoanalysis, where he was analyzed by Jeanne Lampl-de Groot. In 1937, he enrolled as a medical student. One year later, the Anschluss took place.
When Hitler annexed Austria in 1938, Racker left Austria. After passing through Denmark and Uruguay, he arrived in Argentina in 1939 when he was 29.