Otto Gross: A case of exclusion and oblivion in the history of psychoanalysis

Abstract

This article attempts to explain why Otto Gross, one of the pioneers of psychoanalysis and the first to think about its political implications, a thinker who exerted considerable influence in the artistic and cultural milieux of a number of European countries, was segregated by the psychoanalytic community. The article presents some documents and several excerpts from the correspondence between psychoanalysts that demonstrate the crucial role played by Jung and Freud in this segregation. The article also aims to explain how this segregation resulted in the oblivion with which the history of psychoanalysis treats Otto Gross, questioning and even denouncing the way history is written in this field.