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The Chairman opened the panel, which was attended by about fifty people, and described it in his opening remarks as representing ‘part of a process of rediscovering and rediscussing Anna Freud's seminal contribution and influence in the field of psychoanalysis’. He stressed her lifelong dedication to the education of generations of adult and child analysts, and her deep influence in the development of a training programme in child analysis. He then gave a general frame of reference for Anna Freud's scientific leadership and said that her achievements could be viewed in three overlapping areas: (1) as a guardian and advocate of her father and his work in creating psychoanalysis; (2) as a pioneer in establishing child psychoanalysis; and (3) as a strikingly original natural scientist and psychoanalyst.
Solnit reminded the audience of S. L. Lustman's evaluation of her monumental achievements in psychoanalytic theory, technique and research methodology, in which research methodology is described as
the aspect of her thought which is least attended and insufficiently appreciated. The scaffold and texture of Anna Freud's writings represent the most proficient, knowledgeable, and functional grasp of the epistemological structure and function of theory—and may well represent her most influential long term contribution (1967, p. 810f.).
Stressing Anna Freud's inspiring scientific leadership and its rich legacy, Professor Solnit concluded his cogent introductory remarks and called on Riccardo Steiner to address the audience.
In his presentation entitled ‘A personal attempt to revisit Anna Freud's The Ideal Psychoanalytic Institute: A Utopia’ Riccardo Steiner aimed ‘to reflect on what we mean today by the internal and external time and space we all dedicate, have dedicated or would like to dedicate to being educated or to educating, and to learning more about improving our systems of preserving, transmitting and fostering psychoanalytic knowledge’. Obviously, he went on, the conte