Wilhelm Benary (1888–1955): Life and Work

The subject here is the psychologist Wilhelm Benary, who lived from 1888 to 1955. He worked within two currents that rarely get mentioned together: applied psychology of the "Psychotechnik" kind, and Gestalt psychology. Despite that double footing, no one has yet written a complete account of his life and his research. With the history of psychology drawing renewed attention lately, these articles set out to sketch Benary in full.

Why does he repay the effort? Benary was close to both Wolfgang Köhler and Max Wertheimer, and that friendship places him at the center of a particular milieu. He held an assistant professorship at the Psychological Department of Berlin University in 1929, so an honest portrait of him tells us something about that department and the people in it. As part of the work, several of Benary's letters to Köhler and to Wertheimer appear in print for the first time.

This opening part follows Benary through his various roles: student, then scientist, then publisher, then businessman. His story sits inside a larger one, the history of the Jewish Benary family, among the wealthiest households in Erfurt. A good deal of attention goes to how Benary managed to survive in Germany under National Socialism.

The second part turns to the research itself, summarizing it and reading it against the grain of present-day psychological theory. The third gathers documents worth preserving. A bibliography closes the series, covering both what Benary published and what he wrote.