Edith (Goldfarb) Sabshin was a junior physicist at the University of Chicago’s Metallurgical Laboratory (“Met Lab”) during the Manhattan Project. She also worked in the information division.
After graduating from Yale, she joined the Met Lab. As a junior physicist, Goldfarb had the opportunity to work with famous senior physicists. She not only discussed scientific theory with Enrico Fermi, but she also played tennis with him.
Early Years
In 1924, Edith Goldfarb was born in New York City. She graduated from Brooklyn College. Afterward, she attended Yale University, where she received her master’s degree in physics.
Later Years
Following World War II, Goldfarb decided to become a physician. She attended the University of Chicago’s School of Medicine and specialized in psychiatry. After completing her residency, she served her rotation at Illinois, Chicago, and Michael Reese Hospital.
Goldfarb continued her psychoanalytic training and soon after became employed at the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis. As a trainee at the Institute, she met her future husband, Melvin Sabshin. They were married in June 1955.
Goldfarb was also interested in psychoanalytic education. She served as a training and supervising analyst and assistant dean of education at the Institute. At the same time, she became a lecturer at the University of Chicago’s Department of Psychiatry.
In 1976, she moved to Washington to join her husband, who had moved there as part of his career. In Washington, she continued her clinical research. This research included work with Joan Fleming in psychoanalytic studies of patients who lost a parent as a child.
During this period, she worked as a teacher and supervisor at the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute. She was also a lecturer at Georgetown University Medical School.
Goldfarb was a fellow of both the American Psychiatric Association and American College of Psychiatrists. She served as an elected national officer of the American Psychoanalytic Association.
At the age of sixty-eight, Edith (Goldfarb) Sabshin died on March 23, 1992 at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C.
For more information about Edith (Goldfarb) Sabshin, please see the following references: