Jacques Hassoun

Jacques Hassoun (20 October 1936 – 24 April 1999) was a French psychoanalyst and proponent of the ideas of Jacques Lacan.

Hassoun developed a theory of depression and a reparative theory of transmission. He wrote about certain pathologies in children of immigrants. Hassoun examined the special problems they face in processing and transmitting what is mostly communicated to them through their parents' narratives of displacement, loss and exile. He was one of the first to evoke the heritage of the Jews of Egypt in modern times. He wrote about their history, customs, religious observance, and languages. He showed particular interest in the Karaite community.

Hassoun traveled to Egypt with groups of compatriots when Egyptian president Anwar Sadat made it possible for Jews to visit Egypt. Hassoun wrote several works on the history of the modern Jews of Egypt, among them ''Histoire des Juifs du Nil'' (Minerve, 1990), ''Alexandies et autres récits'' and ''Alexandries'' (a novel). He wrote eloquently of the culture of the Jews of Egypt and of their disappearance in the wake of Egyptian nationalism. Provided by Wikipedia