Joan Erikson
| Joan Erikson | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Sarah Lucretia Serson June 27, 1903 Brockville, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | August 3, 1997 (aged 94) Brewster, Massachusetts |
| Nationality | Naturalized United States citizen |
| Occupation | Collaborator with her husband, Erik Erikson, author, educator, craftsperson, weaver, jeweler, beadwork, dance ethnographer |
| Known for | Helped reshape the prevailing psychological view of human development |
| Spouse(s) | Erik Erikson (1930–1994, his death) |
Joan Mowat Erikson (born Sarah Lucretia Serson; June 27, 1903 – August 3, 1997) was well known as the collaborator with her husband, Erik Erikson and as an author, educator, craftsperson, and dance ethnographer.
Joan Erikson was born in Brockville, Ontario, one of three children of John Reaby and Mary Louise MacDonald Serson. Her father (who died when she was six) and her brother were priests ordained in the Anglican Church of Canada. Her birth name was Sarah Lucretia Serson. She later changed her name to Sarah Mowat Serson, then to Sally Mowat Serson, then to Joan Mowat Serson, when she married Erik she became Joan Mowat Homburger, and, in 1939, became Joan Mowat Erikson when she and Erik were naturalized as American citizens "using the self-invented name Erikson."
Moves to Vienna and the United States
Joan moved to Vienna to conduct dance research for her doctoral dissertation and there met her husband Erik Homborger, who was working at a progressive school started by Anna Freud. Joan and Erik married in 1930 and Joan persuaded Erik to move to the United States three years later ("to escape European fascism"), where they became citizens in 1939.
The Eriksons spent time at Harvard and Yale Universities, and then moved to the University of California at Berkeley.
The Erickson's daughter, Sue Erikson Bloland, says that, in the eyes of her father, her mother was "the ultimate source of strength and wisdom within the family (if not the universe), the real healer, the solver of all problems both practical and personal.
Judith Wallerstein, a longtime friend, said that "to her husband, Joan was always bigger than life. Far beyond the lovely and loving woman he married, she represented to him all women–the very essence of the feminine ideals of beauty, compassion, nurturance, and strength."
In 1944, Joan gave birth to a fourth child, Neil, who was born with Down's Syndrome and was immediately institutionalized.
Joan died on August 3, 1997, in a nursing home in Brewster, Massachusetts, three years after the death of her husband, Erik. Mrs. Erikson's survivors included two sons, Kai of Hamden, Conn., and Jon of Port Angeles, Wash.; a daughter, Sue Bloland of Manhattan, and three grandchildren.
Joan obtained an undergraduate degree from Barnard College and a master's from Columbia's Teachers College. She completed doctorate course work before moving to Europe to conduct research for a dance dissertation. She spent time observing dance schools and teaching dance to children in Austria and Germany. After meeting husband Erik Erikson, Joan stopped research for her dissertation and took a job at the progressive school in Vienna, where he was working. She believed that children should be taught based on their interests, and structured lessons accordingly. She taught English to many of the psychoanalysts at the school, including her husband.
...
Wikipedia