Payne, Sylvia (1880–1974)
Payne, Sylvia (1880–1974)
English psychoanalyst. Born Sylvia Moore in 1880; died in 1974; graduated from the London Hospital School of Medicine in 1906; married J.E. Payne (a surgeon); children: three.
A pioneer in the use of psychoanalysis, Sylvia Payne was the daughter of a cleric, and qualified for her medical degree at the London Hospital School of Medicine (now the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine). During World War I, she served as commandant and medical officer at the Torquay Red Cross Hospital, for which she was created CBE in 1918. Payne subsequently became a psychiatrist at the London Clinic of Psychoanalysis. At the time, psychoanalysis was a new and controversial discipline, and Payne helped establish it as a legitimate and valuable form of therapy. She later served variously as chair of the board of directors of the Institute of Psychoanalysis, president of the British Psychoanalytical Society, and a fellow of the British Psychological Society. Payne was married to J.E. Payne, a surgeon; they had three children.