The Healing Through the Spirit Mesmer - Mary Baker-Eddy - Freud

Stefan Zweig collected stories from three other authors to dwell on the topic of health and disease. The content is poignant, and quite diverse at times. In this 1931 publication, Stefan Zweig examines three mental healing pioneers in the form of essays: At the end of the 18th century, the German physician Franz Anton Mesmer created an early kind of hypnosis, which for the first time enabled access to the unconscious. On a Christian premise, the American Mary Baker-Eddy discovered in the spiritual character of man a potential for healing. The third and last lengthy article is about Sigmund Freud, whose psychoanalysis for the first time enabled direct intervention in mental processes. Biography Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) was born into a Jewish commercial family in Vienna. Poems, stories, dramas, and essays he wrote fell prey to the 1933 Nazi book burnings. From 1919 to 1934, he resided in Salzburg before emigrating to England and, in 1941, to Brazil. His historical miniatures and biographical paintings were as well-known as his epic opus. On February 23, 1942, he gave up his life freely in Petrópolis, Brazil.