Roazen, Paul 1936–2005

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born August 14, 1936, in Boston, MA; died of complications from Crohn's disease, November 3, 2005, in Cambridge, MA. Political scientist, social scientist, educator, and author. Roazen was a professor of social and political science by profession, yet he also held an interest in psychoanalysis. This interest led him to write several controversial studies on Sigmund Freud and his colleagues and followers. An alumnus of Harvard University, he earned his A.B. in 1958 and Ph.D. in 1965. He remained at Harvard as an instructor and then assistant professor of government until 1971. At that time, he moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to join the York University faculty. There he became a full professor of social and political science in 1974, retiring in 1995. An intense interest in Freud and psychoanalysis led Roazen to publish many books on these subjects, including Freud: Political and Social Thought (1968), Freud and His Followers (1975), How Freud Worked: First-Hand Accounts of Patients (1995), The Historiography of Psychoanalysis (2000), Oedipus in Britain: Edward Glover and the Struggle over Klein (2000), and Edoardo Weiss: The House That Freud Built (2005). These books did not make the author popular with Freuds many adherents, for Roazen pointed out many inconsistencies between the famous psychoanalyst's methods and his stated theories. Critics also complained that Roazen issued his criticisms from the standpoint of someone with no formal education in either psychology or psychoanalysis. Nevertheless, others complimented him for opening up psychoanalysis to the discipline of historiography, something that had not been previously explored. Roazen received validation for his work when he was made an honorary member of the American Psychoanalytic Association in 2004. Previously, in 1993, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Independent (London, England), November 16, 2005, p. 62.

New York Times, November 23, 2005, p. A24.

Times (London, England), January 6, 2006, p. 69.

Washington Post, November 12, 2005, p. B6.