{{Short description|Norwegian forensic psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, author}}
{{Infobox scientist | name = David Abrahamsen | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1903|6|23}} | birth_place = Trondheim, Norway | death_date = {{Death date and age|2002|5|20|1903|6|23}} | death_place = | fields = Forensic psychiatry, psychoanalysis | workplaces = Tavistock Clinic<br>London School of Economics<br>St. Elizabeth's Hospital<br>Illinois State Penitentiary<br>Sing Sing Correctional Facility<br>New York State Psychiatric Institute<br>Columbia University | alma_mater = Royal Frederick University (University of Oslo) | known_for = Analyses of Richard Nixon, David Berkowitz, and Jack the Ripper | notable_works = ''I Am a Jew'', ''Confessions of Son of Sam'', ''Murder and Madness: Secret Life of Jack the Ripper'' | children = Inger McCabe Elliott }}
'''David Abrahamsen''' (June 23, 1903 – May 20, 2002) was a Norwegian forensic psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and author who wrote analyses of Richard M. Nixon and David Berkowitz.
He was the father of Inger McCabe Elliott.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/29/business/media/29elliott.html|title = Osborn Elliott, Father of Newsweek's Rebirth, Dies at 83|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 29 September 2008|last1 = Kaufman|first1 = Michael T.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dn.no/d2/2018/07/11/1057/Profil/fra-uranienborg-til-new-yorks-elite |title=Inger McCabe Elliott forteller om sitt innholdsrike liv (DN+) - DN.no |website=www.dn.no |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180711123304/https://www.dn.no/d2/2018/07/11/1057/Profil/fra-uranienborg-til-new-yorks-elite |archive-date=2018-07-11}} </ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/10/21/archives/osborn-elliot-newsweek-chief-exeeutive-weds-mrs-inner-mccabe.html|title = Osborn Elliot, Newsweek Chief Executive, Weds MRS. Inger McCabe|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 21 October 1973}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Abrahamsen was born in Trondheim, Norway in 1903.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://findingaids.library.columbia.edu/archives/cul-4078348 |title=David Abrahamsen papers, 1906–1990 |website=Columbia University Libraries Archival Collections |publisher=Columbia University Libraries |access-date=2025-07-09}}</ref> He studied medical science at the Royal Frederick University in Oslo and graduated in 1929. He eventually relocated to England, taking positions at the Tavistock Clinic and the London School of Economics.<ref name="Honan">{{Cite news |last=Honan |first=William H. |author-link=William H. Honan |date=May 22, 2002 |title=Dr. David Abrahamsen, 98; Wrote About 'Son of Sam' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/22/nyregion/dr-david-abrahamsen-98-wrote-about-son-of-sam.html |newspaper=The New York Times |location=New York |accessdate=March 13, 2016 }}</ref>
He moved to the United States in 1940 and joined the staff at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington, D.C. Later he served as a psychiatrist and criminal psychopathologist at two major prisons in the U.S., first the Illinois State Penitentiary in Joliet, and then the Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, New York. He also worked for the New York State Psychiatric Institute at Columbia University, and served as a teacher and research associate at Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons.<ref name="Honan"/>
==Writing career== Abrahamsen belonged to one of the oldest families of Jewish settlers in Norway, and his heritage informed the writing of his first book, ''I Am a Jew'', which described and compared the traditional Norwegian and Jewish ways of life.<ref name="Honan"/>
Abrahamsen's paper, ''A Study of Lee Harvey Oswald: Psychological Capability of Murder'', was published in the Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, in October 1967.<ref>{{cite book |last=Abrahamsen |first=David |title=A Study of Lee Harvey Oswald: Psychological Capability of Murder |year=1967 |publisher=New York Academy of Medicine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lpAAAAIAAJ |language=en }}</ref> His book, ''Our Violent Society'', came out in 1970, a Funk & Wagnalls' publication.<ref>''The Murdering Mind'', David Abrahamsen, Harper & Row, 1973, 21.</ref>
Abrahamsen's expertise in psychopathology was enlisted by authorities during the notorious Son of Sam serial murder case: when the killer, David Berkowitz, was finally in custody, Abrahamsen was directed by the Brooklyn District Attorney to evaluate his ability to stand trial. He deemed him competent, but Berkowitz never went to trial, pleading guilty instead and receiving multiple life sentences. Abrahamsen continued to examine Berkowitz in jail, and ultimately documented his life in ''Confessions of Son of Sam'' (1985).<ref name="Honan"/>
Abrahamsen suspected Prince Albert Victor and James Kenneth Stephen worked as a collaborating team to commit the Jack the Ripper murders.<ref>[http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-55611-279-9 "Murder and Madness: The Secret Life of Jack the Ripper"]. Publishers Weekly.</ref> The book was criticized for providing no solid evidence.<ref>[http://www.casebook.org/ripper_media/book_reviews/non-fiction/murdmad.html "Murder and Madness: The Secret Life of Jack the Ripper"]. Casebook.</ref><ref>Newton, Michael. (2013). ''The Texarkana Moonlight Murders: The Unsolved Case of the 1946 Phantom Killer''. McFarland. p. 149 {{ISBN|978-0-7864-7325-0}} "An odd hybrid theory, published by forensic psychiatrist David Abrahamsen in 1992, cast Eddie and Stephen as collaborating team killers... [However] Dr. Abrahamsen failed to produce any solid evidence connecting either suspect to the Ripper's crimes."</ref>
Columbia University Library maintains a trove of research notes, drafts, correspondence and articles written by Abrahamsen on topics of criminals and criminality.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/archival/collections/ldpd_4078348/ |title=David Abrahamsen papers, 1906–1990 |author= |authorlink= |year=2016 |publisher=Columbia University Libraries |work=Columbia.edu |accessdate=March 13, 2016 }}</ref>
==Publications== *''Crime and the Human Mind'' (1944) *''The Mind and Death of a Genius'' (1946) (about Otto Weininger) *''The Psychology of Crime'' (1967) *''Our Violent Society'' (1970) *''The Murdering Mind'' (1973) *''Nixon Vs. Nixon: An Emotional Tragedy ''(1977) *''The Mind of the Accused: A Psychiatrist in the Courtroom'' (1983) *''Confessions of Son of Sam'' (1985) *''Murder and Madness: Secret Life of Jack the Ripper'' (1994)
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Abrahamsen, David}} Category:1903 births Category:2002 deaths Category:Writers from Trondheim Category:20th-century American Jews Category:American psychiatrists Category:20th-century Norwegian Jews Category:Norwegian psychiatrists Category:Norwegian emigrants to the United States Category:21st-century American Jews Category:Columbia University faculty Category:University of Oslo alumni