[The relationship between Sigmund Freud and Paul Federn: some unpublished documents]

The relationship between Freud and Paul Federn, which lasted over an exceptionally long period of time (35 years), has been neglected for two major reasons: the departure of the latter for the United States in 1938 and the absence of any biographer. Long considered as a dissident, he was ignored by analytic circles (including Jones, Freud's biographer), partly because of his position in favor of the training of nonmedical analysts. A pioneer in the field of mental health and the application of psychoanalysis to social problems, he strove to transform psychoanalysis into an instrument for social and political change, thus remaining faithful to his socialist convictions.