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This book has an interesting format, well suited to its unique purpose. It introduces Hug-Hellmuth in an extended biographical essay. It then presents a comprehensive selection of her writings, most of which are translated into English for the first time in this volume. The story is a fascinating one. From the point of view of today's feminism it is amazing. Hug-Hellmuth was an early member of Freud's inner circle. She was the third woman, and the first non-Jew. She was a pioneer in other ways as well. She was one of the first women to matriculate at the University of Vienna. She was one of the first women actually to obtain her doctorate there. She was the earliest writer on child analysis. And she was one of the first women to write analytic papers about the sexuality and psychology of women. Why isn't her name well known in analytic circles? Is hers another case of “anonymous was a woman”?
Hug-Hellmuth's doctorate was in physics. Many of the pioneers of academic psychology had the same degree. But she did not enter the academic world. She appears to have been analyzed and became interested in doing analytic work herself. She soon began to observe and write about child development, particularly the illegitimate child of her illegitimate half-sister.
The bulk of this book reveals Hug-Hellmuth through her writing. Unfortunately, her two longest works are not reprinted here. They are both book length in themselves and including them would have made this an unwieldy volume. They are Diary of a Young Girl and New Ways to the Understanding of Youth. The authors and translators have selected some of her work on child analysis, and some of her work on women and the family. They have included a very condensed version of New Ways to the Understanding of Youth, which may well be her most substantial and influential work.
Nonetheless, the present work is amazing. While sparse and impressionistic, her data are well observed and often brilliantly illuminated by her comments. Now t