Sabina Spielrein's Siegfried and other myths: facts versus fictions

TLDR: In this article, the authors present a story about an alleged sexual affair with Jung and a case of misconduct during treatment, based on a misinterpretation of the documents, a myth, a fiction, was created about the sexual relationship between Spielrein and Jung and another myth was that her relationship with Jung was a cause of the historic break-up between Freud and Jung.

Abstract: Sabina Spielrein's life events became known to posterity through a private correspondence with Freud and Jung, and through her diaries. Based on a misinterpretation of the documents, a myth, a fiction, was created about an alleged sexual affair with Jung and a case of misconduct during treatment. Another myth was that her relationship with Jung was a cause of the historic break-up between Freud and Jung. The biographical facts described by the author in a number of publications show that her treatment ended when she left the hospital to become Jung's student in the medical school, a situation with its own ethical rules. Furthermore, the alleged “scandal” was no public matter: it turned out to be no more than a personal quarrel. Before, during, and after that turbulent episode, Spielrein and Jung maintained a long and tender friendship and correspondence that included sharing creative ideas that enriched psychoanalysis. In these exchanges, a special role was played by the myth of Siegfried and othe...