Abraham Arden Brill

On March 2, 1948, Abraham Arden Brill died. With his passing one of the most colorful figures in psychoanalysis leaves the scene. His voluminous contributions bear testimony to the tremendous impact he has had on psychoanalysis. However, if we were to evaluate only his scientific work, a vital aspect of his contributions to psychoanalytic progress would be omitted. It would be difficult to deny that his amazing personality contributed as much to foster psychoanalytic progress in America as his scientific contributions, valuable as these are.

There is very little we can add to what every student of psychoanalysis already knows about Dr. Brill, and to what will certainly be chronicled elsewhere. In our effort to pay tribute to the greatness of the man, we have been fortunate in obtaining (through the good offices of Dr. Philip Lehrman) a charming address made by Dr. Leonard Blumgart on the occasion of a dinner given on October 12, 1944, in honor of Dr. Brill's 70th birthday—and Dr. Brill's remarks upon this occasion.

It is our feeling that in order to convey what Dr. Brill meant to all of us we need do no more than reproduce Dr. Blumgart's speech and let Dr. Brill speak for himself in his own inimitable fashion.

Mr. Chairman, Mr. Toastmaster, Ladies and Gentlemen—and Our Beloved Guest, Dr. A. A. Brill:

We are here to honor Dr. Brill because we respect, admire and love him. We have no compulsion to conceal our pride in this tribute. We are proud of all he stands for, as a man, physician and scientist. In each of these aspects of his personality, he exemplifies the fundamental virtues which have made him a great and useful citizen.

These fundamentals are built around an honest and courageous seeking for the truth—that is completely without fear. For more than thirty years, we have listened with profit and pleasure to his papers. For more than thirty years, we have listened to gossip about him; we have even gossiped amongst ourselves. And in all of these thirty yea