KOCH, ADELHEID LUCY

KOCH, ADELHEID LUCY (1896–1980), first psychoanalyst recognized by the International Psychoanalytic Association (IPA) in Brazil and founder of Sociedade Brasileira de Psicanálise de São Paulo, the first official Brazilian psychoanalytic society. Born in Germany, Adelheid graduated in medicine from the University of Berlin in 1924. She was psychoanalyzed by Otto Fenichel and became a member of Berlin's Psychoanalytic Society in 1935. As a refugee from the Nazi regime, Adelheid and her husband Ernst immigrated to Brazil in 1936, settled in São Paulo and took part in the foundation of the Congregação Israelita Paulista (1936), which was created by Jewish refugees from Germany. Adelheid worked as a volunteer in the Congregação's youth programs (and Ernst was the president of the organization between 1956 and 1967). After she settled down in São Paulo, Adelheid was officially recognized by Ernest Jones, president of IPA, and became the first authorized "training analyst" in Brazil. She was mentor (with Durval Marcondes) of the founding group of Grupo Psicanalítico de São Paulo (1944), which later became the Sociedade Brasileira de Psicanálise de São Paulo (1951). From then on, psychoanalytic treatments and concepts developed considerably in Brazil (as well as in Argentina). There was an important presence of Jewish professionals and intellectuals among the Brazilian psychoanalysts in the early 21st century. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Documentation of Arquivo Histórico Judaico Brasileiro; Álbum de Família da Sociedade Brasileira de Psicanálise de São Paulo: Imagens, Fontes e Idéias da Psicanálise em São Paulo (1994); R.Y. Sagawa, Os Inconscientes no Divã da História (1989); A.I. Hirschberg. Desafio e Reposta. A História da Congregação Israelita Paulista (1976). (Roney Cytrynowicz (2nd ed.)