Franz Alexander 1891-1964

The Death of Dr. Franz Alexander on March 8, 1964 was a loss to all of psychiatry and psychoanalysis. His place in the history of psychoanalysis was firmly established by his adventurous spirit in seeking new answers to all questions and maintaining an open mind regarding development in psychoanalytic theory.

His arrival in Chicago in 1932 to direct the Institute for Psychoanalysis served to advance the status of psychoanalysis in the United States immeasurably. A most able and stimulating teacher, he trained many of today's leaders in psychoanalysis. He played a large role in the integration of psychoanalysis into the medical discipline and solidified its influence on psychiatric training in general.

Dr. Alexander was one of the few remaining psychoanalysts who had studied and worked with Freud. However, he was not bound by the traditional models and theories when these ran counter to his experience. He proceeded to reappraise many of Freud's original theories and developed numerous interesting revisions and clarifications. He advocated flexibility in the treatment process, vigorously rejected the orthodox views when they collided with the data of his experimental work, and thus began to shape psychoanalysis into a true science of human behavior.

Feeling a need for a psychoanalytic organization that would more comfortably accept his experimental attitudes and in which he could feel the congeniality of open-mindedless, he helped organize the Academy of Psychoanalysis with a group of colleagues from all parts of the country. At the time of his death, he was the President of the Academy of Psychoanalysis, and was preparing a Presidential Address on some historical material regarding the Freud-Bleuler correspondence.

His last years were occupied in a most exciting research project on the therapeutic process at Mount Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles where he was head of the Department of Psychiatry. He was also Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California.