Erwin Singer 1919–1980

ERWIN SINGER WAS A MULTIDIMENSIONAL man. He was an actor, ski instructor, photographer, xray technician, a gourmet, restauranteur and sommelier, investor, art collector and fighter for political freedom. Those who knew him were touched by his vitality, his depth, his charisma, his lustiness, gusto, fullness and love of life. They also knew his skill as a psychoanalyst, supervisor, professor and author.

He was born in Vienna, and Vienna was part of the fiber of his existence. He visited that city every two years and never gave up yearning to go back "home" to live permanently.

European culture also was a major influence on him. All his life he expanded his knowledge of philosophy, art and religion. He believed strongly in Talmudic and biblical values, and during these last years had been thinking of writing a book which he had tentatively entitled "Visions and Values." He believed that a psychoanalysis which encompassed only academic psychological concepts was lacking in scope so he brought his varied experience, background and education into all his relationships.

He always aspired toward independence of thought and action yet was quick to add that to be independent one had to recognize the inevitability of one's dependence.

His writings stressed the importance of separating oneself and developing "the frightening sense of individuality, the terror of freedom and the horror of responsibility" (1978). He thought that "the evolution of a. … unique and separate identity rather than the achievement of strong identification aids humans in their fight for fulfillment" (1965). He believed that many of us make desperate attempts to maintain some sense of identification because we cannot conceive of separateness within human solidarity (1965, p. 171). Writing of the terror of separateness he used the example of a man who stands up among others, particularly among those he respects (or from whom he wants approval) and takes an iconoclastic stand; it is a frightening pl