Herbert A. Wiggers—1907-1953

At the age of forty-six Herbert Wiggers died suddenly of cardiac failure on July 22, 1953.

In the tragically short span of his professional career, Dr. Wiggers attained positions of responsibility and the respect of his colleagues in a wide variety of activities. Primarily devoted to psychoanalytic therapy, in which he was a highly skilled clinician, his sincere interest, enthusiasm, and desire to be of service won him, through his ability and his ardor in the pursuit of his work, the offices of Secretary of the New York Psychoanalytic Society, Treasurer of the New York Psychoanalytic Institute and membership on its Board of Directors. He enjoyed teaching in a spirit of sharing and acquiring knowledge and contributing to psychoanalytic education, whether in chance discussions with students and colleagues or in the formal classes he taught in the Extension School of the New York Psychoanalytic Institute.

Among a generation of eclectics who tended to seek seemingly easy and popular compromises, he worked steadfastly to apply and develop the tested principles of psychoanalytic therapy.

He did not seek offices or titles, but having accepted a task, he gave himself to it perseveringly and without stint, attending to all practical details with complete devotion.

In 1944 he was invited to become a member of the editorial staff of The Psychoanalytic Quarterly. During several previous years he had collaborated generously in every request that was made of him to contribute to this work. As was characteristic of him, he made the interests of The Quarterly his own, strove to improve and extend the scope of the publication, and elected acceptance of the arduous and painstaking task of editing the department of abstracts. He was solicitously thoughtful of his fellow workers, and worked steadily and unostentatiously to give the best of himself to this as he did to all his undertakings.

As a person he was singular in the abundance of his energy for living and his desire to share th