ABSTRACT
Karl Abraham’s and Sandor Ferenczi’s backgrounds were quite different. Abraham grew up as the second son of a small, orthodox Jewish family in Bremen in northern Germany. Ferenczi for his part was absolutely loyal to Freud for a long time, and was rewarded by the Master in the form of special sympathy and recognition. Freud even toyed with the idea that Ferenczi could marry his daughter Mathilde. Freud at first supported the former, but then distanced himself more and more and eventually changed sides altogether, with the result that Rank left the psychoanalytic movement for good, and Ferenczi’s position within it became problematic and marginalised. After the break with Rank, however, Abraham and Ferenczi made efforts to reconcile—efforts that were brutally interrupted by Abraham’s untimely death shortly afterwards.
