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I shall begin by trying to evoke memories of my relations with Anna Freud. When I first met her, just after World War II, she was rather cold towards me, despite the efforts of her friend Marie Bonaparte to bring us together. My English was at that time very poor and she preferred to converse with Maurice Benassy who was, like me, scientific secretary of the newly formed Institute of Psychoanalysis in Paris.
Over the years, our relations improved, although Anna Freud disapproved somewhat of the technique I employed in my therapeutic consultations. I remember that when I once presented a case to her she responded by saying, ‘I've heard of something like that: it was done by Winnicott.’ This declaration was not without a hint of censure.
Nevertheless our relations improved, especially when I joined the Executive Council of the IPA. I participated in the discussions concerning the creation of a new category of members - that of child psychoanalysts. Anna Freud was allied with the Dutch Society and wanted such a reform. I was very reluctant to train child analysts who would not also have had the full adult training. But at the same time Anna Freud wanted to transform the Hampstead Clinic into a training centre. William Gillespie finally managed to avoid a split over this within the British Society. But we have to remember that the training given at the Anna Freud Centre is a kind of new model of training designed for the training of rather young people on a full-time basis. The child analysts at the end of their training were young enough to have quite a long career ahead of them. One can understand their devotion to the Hampstead Clinic. Finally, a kind of agreement was arrived at between Anna Freud and the IPA to assure a real acceptance of child analysis for these students who may easily find a training inside the British Society.
During the Sixties I often had the opportunity of taking part in the very interesting discussions at the Clinic. Anna Freud was very lively