Born: 16 September 1885, Germany
Died: 4 December 1952
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Karen Clementine Danielsen
The following bio was written by Emma Rosen, author of On This Day She Made History: 366 Days With Women Who Shaped the World and This Day In Human Ingenuity & Discovery: 366 Days of Scientific Milestones with Women in the Spotlight, and has been republished with permission.
Karen Horney was a German psychoanalyst who later practiced in the United States. Her pioneering theories challenged traditional Freudian beliefs, especially in the realms of sexuality and psychoanalysis’s instinctual emphasis. Horney is renowned for her role in establishing the foundation of feminist psychology, countering Freud’s notion of penis envy. Diverging from Freud, she rejected the concept of inherent psychological differences between men and women, attributing such distinctions to societal and cultural factors rather than biology.