Peter Blos (1904–1997)

Abstract

Peter Blos was born on February 2, 1904 in Karlsruhe, Germany, to Edwin Blos and Eva Lewinstein-Blos. His father was a doctor who inspired Peter by speaking often about the spiritual teachings of Gandhi and Luther. Eva had a large circle of friends, and particularly liked dancing and acting. Blos himself later developed interests in artistic pursuits such as music, craftsmanship, and poetry. Blos flourished in this highly stimulating intellectual environment. His uncle, Georg Friedrich Nicolai (Eva’s brother) was Edwin’s best friend. Nicolai achieved fame as an ardent protester of World War I. His book The Biology of War, written in 1915, was one of the most powerful antiwar documents of its time. The book was unique in its intellectual prowess and audacity, having been written by a German living in Germany who attacked the illusion of German moral and cultural superiority. It was thus considered highly subversive by the German government (Zuelzer, 1982) . Blos became close friend with Erik Homberger (who later changed his last name to Erikson) at age 16, when they met in high school. Wishing to become a science teacher, Blos enrolled in the University of Heidelberg’s department of education. After earning his teaching certificate in 1925, Eva Rosenfeld, a friend of the Blos family, introduced Blos to Anna Freud. Anna Freud recommended him as a tutor to Bob Burlingham (the eldest child of Dorothy Burlingham), who was in psychoanalysis with Anna Freud. He also tutored the other Burlingham children. Anna Freud offered Blos the position of director of the Hietzing Schule, which he accepted (Houssier, 2002) . She also offered him a free “didactic analysis” (training analysis), which he declined. In part, this reticence may have been due to his discomfort with the fact that Anna Freud was analyzing one of her best friend’s children. Blos invited his friend Erik Erikson to assist him as a teacher at the school (Motto, 1972) ; there the psychoanalyst August Aichhorn, who had a particular interest in treating delinquent children, became his mentor (Houssier, 2002) . During this period, he also met and married his wife, Marta Grone, a Swedish woman whose father was a physician.