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Gregory Zilboorg Papers

 Collection
Call Number: YCAL MSS 258

Scope and Contents

The correspondence, writings and photographs in this collection document the translations, psychoanalytic practice and scholarship of Gregory Zilboorg, the relationship between Gregory and Margaret Zilboorg (neé Stone) and Gregory Zilboorg's photographic portraiture. Most of the papers date from the 1940s and early 1950s and document Zilboorg's personal life and writings (including translations and writings on the history of psychiatry). The papers illustrate the work of a prominent analyst at a time when psychoanalysis had a significant influence on the New York literary circle in which Zilboorg worked.

Writings (Series II) consists of notes, drafts and proofs of several of Zilboorg's publications. The publications include short articles and lectures, books (History of Medical Psychology and Sigmund Freud), translations from Russian to English (including the play "He, the One Who Gets Slapped") and two original playscripts.

Photographs (Series III) includes informal snapshots and studio portraits of Gregory Zilboorg and several portraits of others (likely by Zilboorg). Subjects of these portraits include Diego Rivera and Jean Piaget.

While the papers described here do not date from Gregory Zilboorg's early years in Kiev and Petrograd (St. Petersburg), readers may consult the James and Eugenia Zilboorg Papers, YCAL MSS 259 for his letters to his brother James Zilboorg, 1915-1959.

Dates

  • circa 1910-1960
  • circa 1910-1960

Creator

Language of Materials

Materials in English, Russian and French.

Language of Materials

Materials in English, Russian and French.

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The Gregory Zilboorg Papers is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Margaret Zilboorg, 1992.

Arrangement

The collection consists of three series: Correspondence, Writings, and Photographs.

Extent

6.26 Linear Feet (9 boxes)

6.26 Linear Feet (9 boxes)

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/beinecke.zilboorgg

Abstract

Correspondence, writings and photographs that document the translations, psychoanalytic practice and scholarship of Gregory Zilboorg, the relationship between Gregory and Margaret Zilboorg (neé Stone), and Gregory Zilboorg's photographic portraiture.

Gregory Zilboorg, 1890-1959

Gregory Zilboorg was a psychoanalyst and historian of psychiatry. His many writings and lectures situated psychiatry within a broad sociological and humanistic context at a time when psychoanalysis was gaining importance in literary culture.

Zilboorg was born in Kiev on December 25, 1890 and studied medicine in Petrograd (St. Petersburg). In 1917 he served in the Ministry of Labor for two presidents (Aleksandr Kerenskii and Georgii L'vov). In 1919 he emigrated to the United States and for a time translated plays from Russian to English while studying medicine at Columbia University. After graduating in 1926, he worked at the Bloomingdale Hospital and eventually established a psychoanalitic practice in New York City. From the 1930s onward, Zilboorg produced several volumes of lasting importance on the history of psychiatry. The Medical Man and the Witch During the Renaissance began as the Noguchi lectures at Johns Hopkins University in 1935. This volume was followed by History of Medical Psychology in 1941 and Sigmund Freud in 1951.

Zilboorg's analytic practice brought him into contact with prominent figures in New York's literary and theater milieu. His patients included Marshall Field, George Gershwin, Lillian Hellman, Ralph Ingersoll, Kay Swift and James Warburg. Another of his patients, Moss Hart, drew on his experience in psychoanalysis when writing the musical Lady in the Dark.

Zilboorg was also an avid photographer. His portraits of John Farquhar Fulton and Henry Sigerist were featured in obituaries published in the Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, Inc.

Zilboorg married Ray Liebow in 1919 and they had two children (Nancy and Gregory, Jr.). He married Margaret Stone in 1946 and they had three children (Caroline, John and Matthew).

Title
Guide to the Gregory Zilboorg Papers
Status
Under Revision
Author
by Lisa Conathan
Date
2007
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository

Contact:
P. O. Box 208330
New Haven CT 06520-8330 US
(203) 432-2977

Location

121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511

Opening Hours

Access Information

The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.