Bernays, Edward L.

(born Nov. 22, 1891, Vienna, Austria—died March 9, 1995, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.) U.S. publicist, the “father of public relations.” A nephew of Sigmund Freud, he was born in Austria but was brought up in New York. In organizing endorsements for a play on the taboo subject of venereal disease, he found his calling as a publicist. His early clients included the U.S. War Department and the Lithuanian government. He edited (1955), whose title is his often-quoted definition of public relations. He died at the age of 103.

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