Introduction
Barbara Low (1874 – 1955) was one of the first British psychoanalysts, and an early pioneer of analytic theory in England. She was born in London and named Alice Leonora, the eleventh and last child of Therese (née Schacerl) and Maximillian Loewe, who moved to Britain following Loewe’s part in the failed 1848 uprising in Hungary.
Training and contributions
After graduating from University College, London, and working as a teacher, Low went to Berlin for analysis with Hanns Sachs, and became a founder member of the British Psycho-Analytical Society. She remained active in the society, serving as librarian, and encouraging wider public involvement for the society during World War II. Having led the welcoming committee for Austrian analysts in 1938, Low supported Anna Freud and Edward Glover in the wartime Controversial discussions.
Low introduced the concept of the Nirvana principle (German: Nirwanaprinzip) for the organism's tendency to keep stimuli to a minimum level - her use of the term in her article of 1920 being taken up immediately by Freud in Beyond the Pleasure Principle.