Featured Article Summary #46

Jessie Murray was a British psychoanalyst and suffragette who was born in India and moved to the UK when she was 13. She studied medicine at various institutions and attended lectures by psychologist Pierre Janet in Paris. Murray was a member of the Women's Freedom League and Women's Tax Resistance League, both of which fought for women's suffrage. In 1910, she and journalist Henry Brailsford published a memorandum regarding the mistreatment of suffragettes during the Black Friday demonstrations. Murray later opened the Medico-Psychological Clinic, which provided psychological evaluation and treatment for middle-class families. The clinic closed in 1922 due to political and financial issues, but its training program and therapeutic practices had a lasting impact on the field of psychoanalysis. Jessie Margaret Murray was born in British India in 1867 and later settled in Edinburgh and then London with her family. In 1898, Murray formed a close friendship with Julia Turner, whom some believe she had a romantic relationship with. Murray went on to study at the London School of Medicine for Women and the University of Durham, focusing on psychological medicine. She also attended lectures by Pierre Janet in Paris and studied at University College London. Jessie Murray was a member of the Women's Freedom League, a non-violent militant organisation for women's suffrage. She collected statements from suffragette demonstrators who were victims of violence on Black Friday in 1910, but their request for a public inquiry was refused by the Home Secretary. Murray was also a member of the Women's Tax Resistance League, and had her property seized for non-payment of taxes in protest against the lack of votes for women. From 1912 to 1914, Jessie Murray worked at the Quinton Polyclinic, treating various medical conditions. In 1913, she and Turner opened the Medico-Psychological Clinic, offering psychotherapeutic treatment to those who couldn't afford alternatives. The clinic grew and moved to its own premises in 1914, and began a training program for psychotherapists. Jessie Murray met Marie Stopes in 1915 and went on to write the preface for Stopes' book "Married Love". In 1919, Murray earned her MD and wrote her will, leaving her estate to Turner. However, shortly after receiving her MD, Murray was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and retired from her clinic. She died in 1920 at the age of 53.