Joseph Cyrus Rheingold (October 5, 1903 – June 4, 1978) was a psychiatrist and author of Fear of Being a Woman (1964) and The Mother, Anxiety and Death (1967), each centered on the theory of maternal destructiveness.
Joseph Rheingold was born in New York City on October 5, 1903.
His father was Louis Reingold (Joseph added the “h” to his surname as an adult), a Yiddish-language playwright, and a union leader in the tailor trade.
His mother was Esther Friedman, who devoted her life to charitable works.
Both of them were originally from Poland.
They moved from New York to Chicago in 1912.
Rheingold had four sisters.
He married Harriet Lange in 1930, though they divorced in 1958.
They had two sons, Paul Rheingold and Arnold Rheingold.