We were very pleased to host author Imelda Gaudissart in a webinar where she discussed how she was enticed to write about Emma Jung. Emma, being the wife of a widely published and controversial genius, she was so far lacking recognition. Imelda had to answer a very insistent call from Emma Jung. A difficult mission, given the very discreet and carefully managed cover extended by her family and the apparently unglamorous destiny she accepted to accomplish next to her brilliant husband. Imelda considers that throwing light and understanding on Emma Jung’s life was long overdue, particularly at a time when women all over the world are claiming a rightful recognition for their contribution to humanity.
Little attention has been paid to Emma Jung’s role in the history of analytical psychology and in the life of C. G. Jung. Imelda’s book is an extended biographical essay, originally published in French, which provides us with a carefully detailed view of this remarkable woman. Gaudissart’s sensitive depiction of Emma Jung reveals a very real woman confronted with an unexpected life and challenged to develop in ways that, for a wife and mother of that period, were almost unimaginable. She worked closely with her husband, C. G. Jung, and Sigmund Freud, becoming herself an analyst, and she was instrumental in establishing the earliest institutions for analytical psychology. The issues Emma Jung faced on her path to individuation will resonate with those of many women today.