Marie Langer

Marie "Mimí" Lisbeth Langer (née, Glas; 31 August 1910 - 22 December 1987) was an Austrian-born Latin American psychoanalyst and human rights activist. She was a cofounder of the Argentine Psychoanalytic Association.

Early years

The daughter of Rudolf Glas and Margarethe Glas, Langer was born in Vienna in 1910. She had a sister, Gusti Eva Glas. Langer attended a private girls' school started by educator Eugenie Schwarzwald. After finishing medical school (mid-1930s), she attended Freud's Psychoanalytic Institute.

At the private school, the Schwarzwald Schule , Langer met Else Pappenheim. Their lifelong friendship, documented in the 2019 book, Mimi & Els Stationen Eigner Freundschaft Marie Langer – Else Pappenheim – Späte Briefe continued through medical school and their escape from the Nazis. Pappenheim emigrated to New York City, and like Langer became a well-known psychiatrist and neurologist.

Career

Langer went to work for the International Medical Brigade in Spain during its Civil War. She then emigrated to Buenos Aires and, in 1942, co-founded the Argentine Psychoanalytic Association. Forced into exile in 1974, she moved to Mexico City and was again involved in a private practice while maintaining the responsibilities of professor in clinical psychology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. She served as co-coordinator of the Internationalist Team of Mental Health Workers, Mexico-Nicaragua, and was also a co-founder of the Organization of Mental Health Workers. She died of cancer in Buenos Aires in 1987.