Karl Abraham in New York: The Contributions of Bertram D. Lewin

This paper provides a review, albeit highly condensed, of the work, educational role and influence of the American psychoanalyst , a leading member of the New York Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. A central theme is the influence on Lewin of Karl Abraham, whose delineation of the oral stage of libidinal development provided the theoretical foundation for Lewin's highly original writings on mania, dreams and sleep. In the 1960s Lewin edited an inexpensive paperback edition of six of Abraham's papers in order to make them more widely available to American psychoanalysts. In the Introduction he noted that, despite the lasting importance of Abraham's contributions, he is less well known than many who have deviated from classical psychoanalysis.1

Lewin speculated this is because ‘deviance’ is often mistaken for originality while convinced adherents like Abraham are ‘unthinkingly regarded as imitators’ (Lewin, 1966, p. 7). He singled out ‘A short study of the development of the libido’ (Abraham, 1924) as an undisputed psychoanalytic classic in its development of ideas on depression and elation first found in