Brill

   Abraham Arden Brill (1874-1948) was born in Austria but came to the United States at an early age. He studied medicine at Columbia University and received his M.D. degree in 1903. Brill pursued his interest in psychoanalysis during his university studies, and, after graduation, went to Europe to train under the master Sigmund Freud. As a proponent of psychoanalysis, he practiced in the United States for forty years. Dr. Brill introduced Freudian psychoanalysis to the American medical profession. He sought to revolutionize the treatment of the mentally ill. Although Brill met with great resistance, he persisted. As a result, psychoanalysis became accepted as a new treatment technique. He founded the Psychoanalytic Society in 1911 in New York and served as its first president. In 1934 he became the first president of the Psychoanalytic Section of the Psychiatric Association.

   Brill remained a close friend of Freud and for fifteen years translated most of his major works into English as well as some of Carl Jung's works. Brill was also the author of several notable texts on psychoanalysis.