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Wilhelm Reich
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OverviewAI-generated
Wilhelm Reich (1897–1957) was an Austrian-American psychiatrist, philosopher, writer, and psychoanalyst. Born in Dobrianychi, he held citizenship in Austria–Hungary, Austria, the United States, and Poland. He participated in World War I and was educated at the University of Vienna, where he earned a Doctor of Medicine. His professional affiliations included the Vienna General Hospital, Eduard Hitschmann, the University of Oslo, and The New School. Reich was a member of the Communist Party of Austria, the Communist Party of Germany, and the Social Democratic Party of Austria.
His work focused on psychoanalysis, body psychotherapy, and concepts such as Freudo-Marxism, vegetotherapy, and Orgone. He authored notable works including *The Mass Psychology of Fascism*, *Ibsen's Peer Gynt*, *Die Sexualität im Kulturkampf*, *Jenseits der Psychologie*, *Der Einbruch der sexuellen Zwangsmoral*, and *Gwêgire piyawî piçûk*. He also wrote *Orgonon: A State of Mind. And Body*. Reich was married to Annie Reich and taught students such as Aslaug Vaa and Alexander Lowen. He maintained a significant relationship with A. S. Neill. He died of heart failure in 1957.
Synthesized by Vinony from 33 facts across 4 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, TMDb, Firecrawl. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Born
- 24 March 1897
- Died
- 3 November 1957
- Works
- 196
via Open Library + Wikidata
Film & TV
Dobzau, Galica, Austria
Wilhelm Reich was an Austrian doctor of medicine and psychoanalyst, a member of the second generation of analysts after Sigmund Freud. The author of several influential books, most notably Character Analysis (1933), The Mass Psychology of Fascism (1933) and The Sexual Revolution (1936), Reich became known as one of the most radical figures in the history of psychiatry.
Known for
- Who is afraid of Wilhelm Reich? — Self (archive footage)2009
- The Century of the Self — Self (archive footage)2002
- WR: Mysteries of the Organism — Himself1971
via TMDB
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Wilhelm
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Germany
- Place of birth
- Dobrianychi
- Place of death
- Lewisburg
- Occupation
- university teacher
- Educated at
- University of Vienna
- Political party
- Social Democratic Party of Austria
- Languages spoken
- German
- Religion
- atheism
- Academic degree
- Doctor of Medicine
- Doctoral advisor
- Julius Wagner-Jauregg
- Field of work
- body psychotherapy
- Movement
- Orgastic potency
- Conflict
- World War I
- Official website
- www.wilhelmreichtrust.org
- Image
- Wilhelm Reich.jpg
Show 12 more facts
- Commons category
- Wilhelm Reich
- date of birth
- 1897-03-24
- date of death
- 1957-11-03
- topic's main category
- Category:Wilhelm Reich
- cause of death
- heart failure
- significant person
- A. S. Neill
- facet of
- Orgone
- writing language
- English language
- name in native language
- Wilhelm Reich
- P8168
- Zouk Machine
- partner in business or sport
- Edith Jacobson
- manner of death
- natural causes
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~40 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Wilhelm Reich (/raɪx/; Austrian German: [ˈvɪlhɛlm ˈraɪç]; 24 March 1897 – 3 November 1957) was an Austrian doctor of medicine and a psychoanalyst, a member of the second generation of analysts after Sigmund Freud. The author of several influential books, The Impulsive Character (1925), The Function of the Orgasm (1927), Character Analysis (1933), and The Mass Psychology of Fascism (1933), he became one of the most radical figures in the history of psychiatry.
Reich's work on character contributed to the development of Anna Freud's The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence (1936), and his idea of muscular armour—the expression of the personality in the way the body moves—shaped innovations such as body psychotherapy, Gestalt therapy, bioenergetic analysis and primal therapy. His writing influenced generations of intellectuals; he coined the phrase "the sexual revolution" and according to one historian acted as its midwife. During the 1968 student uprisings in Paris and Berlin, students scrawled his name on walls and threw copies of The Mass Psychology of Fascism at police.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Wilhelm Reich” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.