Introduction

With this special issue, the International Journal of Psychoanalysis joins the celebrations for the centenary of the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA). It is appropriate that it do so: it is simply not possible to separate the International Journal of Psychoanalysis, first proposed and founded by Ernest Jones at a difficult time in the history of psychoanalysis, from the history of the IPA itself. Since its first appearance in 1920, ten years after the IPA was founded, the Journal has always been the only truly international psychoanalytic journal. An open letter (by Sandor Ferenczi) and an anonymous editorial introducing volume one record that the Journal was expressly founded for this purpose, at a time when growing interest in psychoanalysis “by readers not familiar with the German language” mandated “a new journal [that] would rank equally with the Zeitschrift and Imago as an official organ of the International Psychoanalytical Association, with special reference to the English-speaking public” (Ferenczi, 1920). The Journal has closely accompanied, and continues to accompany, the IPA in its growth, and in the diffusion of psychoanalysis throughout-today we can say this quite literally-the entire world.

For the majority of analysts, the Journal has represented a fundamental source of knowledge about psychoanalysis as a whole, conveyed through a language-English-that became not only a lingua franca in the psychoanalytic world, but as such also enabled us to meet those who held new and different concepts from our own. The IPA and the Journal have walked together side by side for almost a century, and today the Journal offers its congratulations to the IPA on its centenary.

In order to celebrate these one hundred years we have done what the Journal has always done: namely, to publish the works of colleagues from all around the world, selected for their quality and through our customary system of peer review. We believe our readers will appreciate this.

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