PSYCHOLOGIST

Melanie Klein

1882 - 1960

Photo of Melanie Klein

Icon of person Melanie Klein

Melanie Klein (; German: [klaɪn]; née Reizes; 30 March 1882 – 22 September 1960) was an Austrian-British author and psychoanalyst known for her work in child analysis. She was the primary figure in the development of object relations theory. Klein's work primarily focused on the role of ambivalence and moral ambiguity in human development. Klein suggested that pre-verbal existential anxiety in infancy catalyzed the formation of the unconscious, which resulted in the unconscious splitting of the world into good and bad idealizations. Read more on Wikipedia

Her biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Melanie Klein is the 25th most popular psychologist, the 94th most popular biography from Austria (down from 82nd in 2019) and the 4th most popular Austrian Psychologist.

Melanie Klein is most famous for her idea of the “paranoid-schizoid position” and the “depressive position.” She believed that children go through these two positions during the course of their development. In the paranoid-schizoid position, the child has a tendency to see the world as all-powerful and all-good or all-powerful and all-bad. In the depressive position, the child has a more realistic view of the world.

Memorability Metrics

Loading...

Page views of Melanie Klein by language

Loading...

Among PSYCHOLOGISTS

Among psychologists, Melanie Klein ranks 25 out of 235. Before her are Jordan Peterson, John B. Watson, Daniel Kahneman, Irvin D. Yalom, B. F. Skinner, and Edward Thorndike. After her are Wilhelm Reich, Gustav Fechner, Hermann Ebbinghaus, Aaron T. Beck, Alfred Binet, and Karen Horney.

Most Popular Psychologists in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1882, Melanie Klein ranks 19. Before her are Emmy Noether, Günther von Kluge, Percy Williams Bridgman, Abdullah I of Jordan, Kurt von Schleicher, and Mohammad Mosaddegh. After her are Abd el-Krim, James Franck, Fiorello H. La Guardia, Edward Hopper, Zoltán Kodály, and Lili Elbe. Among people deceased in 1960, Melanie Klein ranks 9. Before her are Max von Laue, Clark Gable, Erich Raeder, Albert Kesselring, Amanullah Khan, and Wilhelm Pieck. After her are John D. Rockefeller Jr., Paula Hitler, Walther Funk, A. L. Kroeber, Fausto Coppi, and Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia.

Others Born in 1882

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Others Deceased in 1960

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In Austria

Among people born in Austria, Melanie Klein ranks 94 out of 1,424. Before her are Ferdinand I of Bulgaria (1861), Josef Bican (1913), Christoph Waltz (1956), Maria Anna Mozart (1751), Peter Drucker (1909), and Otto Wagner (1841). After her are Arthur Schnitzler (1862), Alma Mahler (1879), Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf (1852), Saint Florian (250), Charles II, Archduke of Austria (1540), and Engelbert Dollfuss (1892).

Others born in Austria

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among PSYCHOLOGISTS In Austria

Among psychologists born in Austria, Melanie Klein ranks 4. Before her are Alfred Adler (1870), Viktor Frankl (1905), and Anna Freud (1895). After her are Bruno Bettelheim (1903), Otto Rank (1884), Paul Watzlawick (1921), Otto Gross (1877), Heinz Kohut (1913), René Spitz (1887), Otto F. Kernberg (1928), and Walter Mischel (1930).

Austrian born Psychologists

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous