Henri Parens, M.D.: In Memoriam

It is a privilege to publish the Tributes that were delivered at Henri Parens' Celebration of Life held on Saturday, April 2, 2022, following Henri's death on Saturday, February 19, 2022, at the age of 94.

What follows are the shared reminiscences of both Henri's colleagues and friends, as well as those of his eldest son, Erik, those of Henri's young adult grandchildren, as well as that of his non-blood brother. Each set of memories reflects the person that Henri Parens was, for through the grief and sadness of the event, shone the portrait of this extraordinary man, whose life impacting experience as the child of an unusually courageous and loving mother led to his escape from a Nazi internment camp and his surviving the Holocaust.

The picture that came into focus on that afternoon in early spring was of a human being of integrity and fairness, as well as of a generosity of spirit manifest in his capacity for in depth loving involvement with his family—including his wife Rachel, his sons, Erik, Joshua, and Karl, and his grandchildren and non-blood brother—and, also with his colleagues with whom he often became a close and treasured friend.

Henri Parens' sense of justice and generosity of spirit were manifest in his unfailing capacity for hope, most especially in his dedication to the belief that as human beings we can transcend our tendency to hatred and destructiveness. Through his seminal scholarly work on human aggression, hatred, prejudice, and xenophobia, Dr. Parens has laid the groundwork for all of us committed to the prevention of war, violence, and racial and ethnic hatred and conflict as published in the bibliography of his writings below; and, as manifest, for example, in his lead editorship of a foundational volume in applied psychoanalysis, The Future of Prejudice (2007), containing one of the most seminal papers in applied psychoanalysis, “Toward Understanding Prejudice—Benign and Malignant”.

Moreover, through his work with children and parents, in preven