Photograph of Josef Breuer (left) playing chess with his grandsons Georg (right) (Jeremy’s grandfather) and Franzl (middle) from the Bryant family archives.
Join us on September 25 at 12:30 pm PT for the first online Ziegler Lecture of the 2025-2026 academic year. Focusing on the theme of ‘networks’, CENES welcomes Jeremy Bryant.
TITLE: “From fin de siècle Vienna to the ends of the earth: the legacy of secular Jewish social networks (a case study)”
ABSTRACT: Georg Breuer’s grandfather Josef Breuer, Freud’s patron and mentor, hosted “doctor’s evenings” where discussions focused on the latest scientific and philosophical developments. His grandmother Jenny Mautner’s salon was frequented by Schnitzler, Strauss, and von Hofmannsthal. Jeremy Bryant (Georg’s grandson) will conduct a historical analysis of the legacy of these diverse social networks on his family, from: Georg’s adolescent struggle with his Jewish identity, through a letter from Breuer; the Anschluss, when Georg aided Jewish refugees escape from Nazi persecution; behind the enemy lines of World War II; to post-war family letters between members of the Viennese diaspora. Bryant will propose the generational distance from the Holocaust allows for a more nuanced view on the secular Jewish project in Vienna, away from mere self-preservation and towards rationalism and liberalism.
BIOGRAPHY: Jeremy Bryant, like his Grandfather, is a lawyer. He practices labour and employment law in Vancouver. Jeremy has a juris doctor from the University of British Columbia and Bachelor of Applied Science in Communications, First Class Honours, from Simon Fraser University. His research interests are in law, European intellectual history, and political science. He is currently researching his Breuer and Mautner family history with the goal of writing a book about his grandfather.
How to attend:
This lecture is an online event, and takes place on September 25, 2025, at 12:30pm PT. Attendees must register here for the Zoom Webinar ahead of time. Please note that this is a recorded event.
Questions? Please email cenes.undergrad@ubc.ca
