Letter from Copenhagen

The Danish Psychoanalytic Society (DPAS) is a young and small society; it celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2007 and now has 53 members, 23 candidates at different stages of their training, and seven who have just been accepted for the next theoretical course.

Denmark is connected to Sweden geographically, historically and culturally. In recent years a bridge and well-organized public transport have strengthened the connections between the Copenhagen area and the southern part of Sweden with Malmö and the university city of Lund as the main cities.

DPAS is one example of close relations between the two countries. Since the very beginning of psychoanalysis in Denmark, Sweden has played a decisive role in giving birth to our Society and keeping it alive. Nowadays nearly 50% of the members and 25% of the candidates are from Southern Sweden.

Before World War II Sweden was the only Nordic country with a psychoanalytic society and, being a neutral country during the war, it attracted a number of immigrant analysts. After the war Sweden came to play an important role for the development of psychoanalysis in all the neighbouring countries. In 1949 a member of the Swedish society, Nils Nielsen, was invited to teach in Copenhagen, and he together with two Danes, Dr Vanggaard and Dr Bjerg-Hansen who had trained in New York and Vienna respectively, became the founders of a Danish psychoanalytic study group in 1953. The study group had eight members. It was an active and enthusiastic group, and in 1957 was accepted as a component society of the IPA and invited to host the world congress in Copenhagen in 1959. It was a flying start but the newborn society apparently did not grow and enlarge. Dr Vanggaard, who was chairman of the Society and consultant psychiatrist at the Copenhagen university hospital, held seminars in his office. He was a charismatic personality and his seminars attracted most of the academic staff. However, while he was chairman, the Society did not develop into