Who was Wilhelm Reich?
Q: Who was Wilhelm Reich?
A: Wilhelm Reich was an Austrian-American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who made important contributions to psychoanalysis in the 1920s.
Q: What did he become involved in during the 1920s?
A: During the 1920s, Wilhelm Reich became involved in the social struggles of the time. In 1927 he joined the Communist Party and founded "SexPol", short for Sexual Politics.
Q: How did his work become rediscovered?
A: His work was rediscovered by activists of the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s.
Q: What research did he start after being kicked out from Psychoanalysis organizations?
A: After being kicked out from Psychoanalysis organizations, Wilhelm Reich started his own research on the biological foundations of psychoanalysis, later on called "orgonomy". Orgonomy was to be the science of orgone, a "primordial energy" that he claimed to have discovered.
Q: How was he exposed as a fraud?
A: He was exposed as a fraud in 1947 articles by journalist Mildred Edie Brady, published in Harper's and The New Republic magazines. The latter article was titled "The Strange Case of Wilhelm Reich," with the subhead, "The man who blames both neuroses and cancer on unsatisfactory sexual activities has been repudiated by only one scientific journal".
Q: What happened after he violated an injunction got by FDA?
A: After violating an injunction got by FDA, Wilhelm Reich was arrested and all his research equipment including his books were destroyed. He was sentenced to two years prison.
Q: Where is his burial place now open to public? A: His burial place is now open to public as the Wilhelm Reich Museum at Orgonon which is located in Rangeley, Maine where he immigrated to US.
