In Memoriam: Norman Kelman, M.D.

For half a century Dr. Norman Kelman brought his passionate, iconoclastic, creative spirit to every area of institute life. His deep wisdom and compassion reached generations of candidates in his connection to them as Associate Dean, teacher, trustee, and training and supervising analyst. On April 20, after a suddenly emerging and thankfully short struggle with leukemia, he did peacefully at home—an immeasurable loss for us.

Born in Wallingford, Connecticut, on December 18, 1914, his choice of career was influenced by his uncle Harold Kelman and his aunt Sara Kelman, both psychoanalysts. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Wesleyan University, earned an M.A. from Columbia University, and his M.D. from Harvard Medical School. He served close to the front during World War II as a major in the U.S. Army, treating and evaluating soldiers suffering from battle fatigue, and repatriating concentration camp survivors.

After the war he became involved with our group and was analyzed by Dr. Horney. He was part of the core group that challenged aspects of Freud's theory and helped to shape our own, enriching it with the work of Martin Buber, Paul Tillich, Jacob Taubes, Erich Fromm, Abraham Joshua Heschel, and others. Early papers in our journal concerned themselves with the uses of constructive forces, the person of the analyst, and the externalization process—themes that continued through the years.

In 1952, he and his then wife Catherine, along with several other colleagues, founded the Karen Horney Foundation, which established the low-cost community clinic that is still affiliated with the Institute.

Throughout his career Dr. Kelman eschewed categorizing and anything that would flatten out or tend to see people in two-dimensional ways. He vigorously fought for the complexity and the uniqueness of each human being. When he spoke, he wove multilayered stories filled with poetry, anecdotes, and bits of autobiography, which could frustrate or illuminate. He understood paradox, celebr