Nise da Silveira

Nise da Silveira (February 15, 1905 – October 30, 1999) was a Brazilian psychiatrist and a student of Carl Jung. She devoted her life to psychiatry and challenged the conventional orthodoxies of her era, which insisted on using institutionalization and aggressive forms of medical intervention, including electroconvulsive therapy, insulin shock therapy and lobotomy to treat mental illnesses.
Biography
Nise da Silveira was born in Maceió, in the northeastern state of Alagoas, Brazil, in 1905. She graduated from the Faculty of Medicine in Salvador, Bahia in 1926, the only woman among 157 men.
In 1952, she founded the Museum of Images of the Unconscious in Rio de Janeiro, a research center and archive aimed at studying and documenting the thousands of artworks her clients produced at the occupational therapy unit of the Pedro II (National) Center for Psychiatry. Through her work, Nise da Silveira introduced Jungian psychology to Brazil.
In 1956, Nise da Silveira developed another revolutionary project that was ahead of her time: "Casa das Palmeiras", an outpatient clinic for formerly institutionalized clients, where they could freely express their art as they transitioned back into society. She also formed the C.G. Jung Study Group, which she chaired until 1968.
Her research on occupational therapy and the use of artistic expression as a means for exploring and revealing the inner life of mentally ill patients led to various exhibitions, films, documentaries, audiovisual productions, courses, symposia, publications and conferences over the course of her life. She was also a pioneer in researching affective bonds between patients and animals, whom she referred to as co-therapists.
In recognition of her work, Nise da Silveira was awarded decorations, titles and prizes in different areas of knowledge. She was a founding member of the International Society for Psychopathological Expression headquartered in Paris, France. Her work and ideas inspired the creation of museums, cultural centers, and therapeutic institutions in Brazil and overseas.
On July 8, 2022, the passage of Federal Law 14.401/2022 confirmed her entry into Brazil's "Livro dos Heróis e Heroínas da Pátria" (Book of National Heroes)
Death
Nise died on October 30, 1999, in Rio de Janeiro.
Her life and work were portrayed by Glória Pires in the 2015 biographical Brazilian film Nise: The Heart of Madness, directed by Roberto Berliner. Glória Pires also portrayed Nilse da Silveira in the 2022 Brazilian telenovela Além da Ilusão.
Tribute
On February 15, 2020, Google celebrated her 115th birthday with a Google Doodle.
References
Bibliography
Casa das Palmeiras. A Emoção de Lidar. Uma Experiência em Psiquiatria Rio de Janeiro: Alhambra, 1986
Cartas a Spinoza Rio de Janeiro: Francisco Alves, 1995
Expérience d'art Spontané chez des Schizophrènes dans un Service de Therapeutique Occupationelle (co-operation with Dr. Pierre Le Gallais, II International Psychiatry Congresso in Zurig), Congress Report vol. IV, 380–386, 1957.
Felipe Sales Magaldi: "Psyche meets matter: body and personhood in the medical-scientific project of Nise da Silveira" [Hist. cienc. saude-Manguinhos vol.25 no.1 Rio de Janeiro Jan./Mar], 2018
Fernando Portela Câmara: "Vida e obra de Nise da Silveira" [Journal of Psychiatry On-Line Brazil], 2002
Gatos, A Emoção de Lidar. Rio de Janeiro: Léo Christiano Editorial, 1998
Gullar Ferreira. "Nise da Silveira: uma psiquiatra rebelde," 1996
Id.: "A contribuição de Nise da Silveira para a Psicologia Junguiana" – [Journal of Psychiatry On-Line Brazil], 2004
Imagens do inconsciente Rio de Janeiro: Alhambra, 1981
João A. Frayze-Pereira: "Nise da Silveira: Imagens do Inconsciente entre Psicologia, Arte e Política" in Estudos Avançados. vol.17 n° 49 São Paulo Set./Dic. 2003
Jung: Vida e Obra, Rio de Janeiro: José Álvaro Ed., 1968
Nise da Silveira Brasil, COGEAE/PUC-SP 1992
O Mundo das Imagens São Paulo: Ática, 1992
Philatelic Release (2005), n. 1, Brasil.
External links
Museum of Images of the Unconscious
UNESCO Memory of the World - Nise da Silveira Personal Archive
Brazil's Museum of the Unconscious: a bold experiment in psychotherapy and art
Open Society Institute - A Groundbreaking Vision of Art and Humanity
Brazilian psychiatrists
1905 births
1999 deaths
20th-century Brazilian physicians
Jungian psychologists
Analytical psychology
Brazilian women scientists
Brazilian scientists
20th-century women scientists
Brazilian women physicians
Brazilian medical writers
20th-century women physicians
Women psychiatrists
Brazilian art educators