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I consider it a signal honour that Eva's family has asked me to deliver a eulogy at her funeral. Nina asked me to speak of Eva's professional and academic life from my vantage point as one of Eva Lester's closest colleagues during many of her most productive years. Accordingly, I will focus on her professional life including her impressive and lasting achievements as an academic psychiatrist, specializing in child psychiatry, and as an internationally renowned psychoanalyst. I will detail some of the highlights of her distinguished and inspiring career. I will also tell you something of what it was like to work closely with this extraordinary woman in a more intimate and personal way.
When I heard from Nina last Friday that Eva had died after her long illness and slow decline, I was immediately saddened. The bright fall day was dimmed, and even the leaves in their fading colours seemed drab as I made my way from my office to the Metro. Crowded into the corner seat of a Metro car, hemmed in by a jostling, noisy crowd of uqam students, I felt all of my age, a sad man mourning Eva's passing in a crowd of youth, bright with energy: Eva Lester, a dear friend and an inspiring colleague. Later that day, and on into the weekend, my mood lifted somewhat as I began to think about Eva, her unforgettable if diminutive presence, and her outstanding contributions to her chosen fields of endeavour.
Eva Lester as most of you know was born in Greece—in Crete to be precise. She chose to study medicine and graduated md with distinction from Athens University in the early 1950s. On a Fullbright Scholarship she came to North America soon to study psychiatry at McGill. She completed the 4-year residency in the heyday of McGill's Department of Psychiatry, passing