Between Genius and Tragedy: A Psychoanalytic Portrait of Viktor Tausk explores the intellectual trajectory and personal struggles of one of the most original and enigmatic contributors to the field, tracing both his theoretical innovations and the lived experience that shaped them.

This book traces Tausk’s intellectual development and inner emotional world from his early search for identity and belonging, through his entry into the psychoanalytic movement in late 1909, his wartime work as a military psychiatrist, and ultimately to his suicide in 1919. Francisco Balbuena Rivera reconstructs his theoretical legacy on sexuality, psychosis, and repression, and examines the reasons for the delayed reception of his work in the English-speaking world. The study critically engages with prior accounts by Paul Roazen and Kurt R. Eissler, reopens debates on Freud’s alleged role in Tausk’s fate, and situates his contributions within broader psychoanalytic, ethical, and philosophical contexts. The book sheds light not only on Tausk himself, but also on broader issues of exclusion, memory, and the politics of psychoanalytic history. The book offers a nuanced portrait of one of Freud's most brilliant yet tragically overlooked disciples.

This book is essential reading for academics and students of psychoanalysis, psychology, psychiatry, and intellectual history of the twentieth century. It is also of great interest to psychoanalysts and to culturally informed readers with a sustained engagement in Freudian thought and the history of psychoanalysis.