An interview with Felix Klein
Birth Place: Vienna, Austria.
Marital Status: I am on my second journey with my marriage to Janice Bottenus for 3 years now. My first journey was a marriage of 50 years. Between Janice and me, we have 3 sons, 1 daughter, and 4 grandchildren.
Your very first job was:
Felix: At age 18, after coming out of school, I was sent to Breslau, Germany, to learn how a department store works. When I got back, I worked in my father’s department store.
Your first interest in graphology was:
Felix Klein: I was 13 years old and accompanying my cousin, Robert Goldsand, who was also 13 and was performing at a resort in the Tirol area of Austria. Since he had been on the concert stage from the age of 10, he was famous as an established concert pianist.
After playing 3 pieces for the hotel audience, a man approached Robert and asked for a sample of his handwriting. The man withdrew, turned a few pages in a small booklet, and returned to say so many things about the handwriting that surprised me. Because I know my cousin so well, I couldn’t imagine what kind of “magic” could be done to find out so much from a few lines of handwriting.
So I asked the man if he could give me any idea how I could learn this. His response was that the best way to learn was to save up enough money to buy a book. So I did but, since my allowance was probably the equivalent of 50 Cents a week at the age of 13, it took a very long time. When I had saved about $30.00, I went to the best bookstore in Vienna and bought my first book by Laura Meyer Albertini.
Tell us more about your graphological studies.
Felix Klein: I first studied on my own; engrossed with it; terribly fascinated. Soon I heard of a graphology course being given in the Planetarium where a variety of offerings were available to the public. Studying began in earnest, but unfortunately, the teacher became very ill and died. So I barely finished the first course. Later on, my teacher was Gerda Kautsky, the daughter-in-law of the famous geologist, Karl Kautsky. She taught me all the secondary subjects for graphology, such as childhood education, the Montessori approach for preschool children, psychology, and identification of handwriting.
I was so taken with my first book on graphology that a year later when I was 14, I wanted to give a birthday present to a girl I greatly admired — she was 17-18. The present needed to be something outstanding. But I did not have enough money to buy a book like mine for her. So I copied the most important parts of the book, like printing, very accurately done, including the handwriting samples — it took 6 months with at least 1 1/2 hours each day to complete the job!
A few days before her birthday, I took it to a book binding place for proper binding and gave it to her — it was a sensation. Some 30 years later, I heard she had immigrated to Israel and still had the book.
My own studies continued after I immigrated by way of England to the US in 1940. I had many conferences with well-known Graphologists such as Dr. Herry O. Teltscher, who is still living here in New York, Alfred Mendel, Frank Victor, and probably the most well-known, Alfred Kanfer. I had 15-20 conferences with Kanfer. In addition, I would take each of my elementary graphology classes to his office for a demonstration on how he saw Cancer in the handwriting. One student asked him a very provocative question, “Suppose a person has been cured by whatever means, will the indicators in their handwriting remain or will they disappear?” His answer was that they never disappeared. He was so fascinated by her question that he asked her to come back; they became very good friends; she began studying with him.
Does the public have access to Kanfer’s work?
Felix Klein: The records of Kanfer’s work are not available at this time.
How many students do you think you’ve had over the years?
Felix Klein: I must have had well over 500.
If you could keep only one graphology book, it would be:
Actually, there are 2 which serve different purposes and both are in German. I do not think there is anything written in English that comes close to this. One by W. H. Muller and Alice Enskat, Graphologische Diagnostik, and the other by Heinrick Pfanne, Lehrbuch der Graphologie. They are the best, in my opinion. An English book would be Diagrams of the Unconscious by Werner Wolff; however, it is not for the beginner.
Would you pick one in English for the beginner?
Felix Klein: Mendel’s, Personality in Handwriting. Klara Roman’s, Handwriting: A Key to Personality, is not bad either, but there are many mistakes in Roman’s book. As long as you know what you are looking for, you can make adjustments for some of the oversights. I recommend Roman’s book to my students, but I tell them only to read what they have learned already so that they have a basis of judgment — what they can and cannot accept from the book.
What is your most treasured handwriting sample?
Felix Klein: According to Eric Fromm, we have what is called a productive writing. And he acknowledges that there are very few productive people. So it follows that there are very few productive writings. I have the handwriting of a woman who manifests a highly productive writing.
I have many interesting writings. One especially very fine handwriting is from Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931), who is most remembered as authoring The Prophet, as well as some 30 additional works.
What advice would you give to the handwriting analysis community?
Felix Klein: It has been my experience from the time I first came here that the public, in general, just does not understand what graphology is about. Early on I advertised in the New York Times, for $5.00 a week. It was 3 months before I got one analysis for $5.00. People just didn’t know, and those who thought they did seem to have the wrong impression. They did not understand how much graphology really can do — how much interpretation you can have from the handwriting. I felt that the only way to remedy the situation was to teach people what they could and should expect from the handwriting. And this is what I have been doing ever since. Teaching was the most important to me then and still is. I charge very little, $200.00 for 10 lessons for 20 class hours. And not only that, I always have food for them. They come directly here after work, and they find a nice supper waiting. So actually I make very little on my fees, if anything. And it surely doesn’t pay for my rent. The Advanced Course of 10 lessons also. These 10 lessons are augmented by a special course, “Psychology for Graphologists,” to support the graphological work. I still feel that the biggest problem in this country is that people are insufficiently trained. It is no surprise that people constantly want me to come all over the United States because I have so much that I can teach and I LOVE IT. I was in Detroit just recently with Liz Mills group.
What challenge would extend to the graphology community.
Felix Klein: As far as a challenge is concerned, unfortunately, there are many people who have learned something, learned a certain amount of graphology. And then use graphology to create publicity for themselves. In other words, they sacrifice the standards of graphology by making claims that are unreasonable. And this, I believe, hurts graphology more than anything else.
Do you have a parting comment?
Felix Klein: I have been in various organizations. One organization, The American Graphological Society, which folded here in New York a number of years ago, created serious concerns for the profession. Its closing was brought on because of one woman who had a very serious problem and used the society’s money for her own needs. For years, she collected dues from out-of-town people although the society had been disbanded. After that, it was difficult to establish an organization with high standards. Eventually, my advanced students and I were able to found a new society — National Society of Graphologists. We have rigorously kept up the standards. Our students, in addition to attending the lectures, must also be able to study on their own. They must show that they can do this work. For the Professional Level designation, there is a very vigorous test requiring an in-depth analysis identifying the writer’s lifestyle and feelings supported psychologically as well as graphologically.
Your Workshop at the Conference is on “Insincerity and Dishonesty As Seen in Handwriting.” What will I learn when I participate in your Workshop? [Note: Felix presented at the COUNCIL’s ’89 Conference in Georgetown]
Felix Klein: There is great discrepancy in what people believe they are able to say regarding honesty and dishonesty. My own extensive research has led to an understanding of degrees of honesty. However, this is for my understanding of the writer and is not to be included in a write-up for any client.
(The interview was published in Gold Nibs in June 1989.)
About Felix Klein:
Founder and President of the National Society for Graphology, founder and president of the National Bureau of Document Examiners, and a past president of the American Association of Handwriting Analysts, Felix Klein began his study of graphology in his birthplace, Vienna, Austria, at the age of thirteen. He had been a practicing graphologist all of his life and has lectured and given seminars throughout the United States and in Canada, England, Germany, Israel, and Mexico. In 1987 he presented two lectures at Oxford University before the 1st British Symposium on Graphological Research, and in 1989 and 1991, he lectured at Cambridge University before the 2nd and 3rd British Symposiums. Mr. Klein came to the United States in 1940 after spending six months each in the concentration camps at Dachau and Buchenwald. While in those camps, he formulated his theory of directional pressure as a result of studying changes in the handwriting of his fellow inmates.
He has translated and condensed Dr. Max Pulver’s “Symbolism in Handwriting” from the original German and is the author of 22 monographs, including, “The Character Structure of Neuroses,” “The Psychology of the Handwriting of the Child,” “Intelligence in Handwriting,” “Rhythm, Groundrhythm and Beyond,” and “Emotional Release in Handwriting.” His contribution to the scientific validity of graphology was described in his 44-page paper comparing the accuracy of matching TAT (thematic apperception tests) with graphological personality profiles, a research project conducted at Hunter College, New York, in 1973.
Mr. Klein did extensive work in personnel selection for major companies and banks, vocational guidance, and individual analyses, all through his company, Manhattan Handwriting Consultant. A consultant to the United Nations, to AT&T, and to the State of New York, Felix Klein was a top-ranked questioned documents examiner and has testified in over 150 court cases in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, New Mexico, and Nevada, as well as in Geneva, Switzerland, and the Island of St. Vincent’s. In 1979 he was called to Ghana, Africa to testify in a case involving a major political figure.
Disclaimer: One element of handwriting may be analysed at a time, but always look at the entire handwriting sample before arriving at any conclusion.
