Melanie Klein was born in Vienna in 1882, the youngest of four children. at about fourteen she decided to study medicine. With her brother's help she learnt enough Greek and Latin to pass into the Gymnasium but her early engagement and subsequent marriage in 1903 brought a halt to her plans. Years later, discovering a booklet on dreams by Freud, she turned her attentions to pyschoanalysis. At this time she was living in Budapest and began her own analysis with Ferenczi, who encouraged her interest in the analysis of children. In 1921 she moved to Berlin to continue her work with children, supported by Dr Karl Abraham, In 1926 she moved to London where she worked and lived until her death in 1960.