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If the Presidency of The American Academy of Psychoanalysis is an office which makes taxing demands and brings with it expectations of various kinds, it also offers rewards and pleasant opportunities. One of the most gratifying is the annual conferral of the Frieda Fromm-Reichmann Award on a colleague — not necessarily a member of The Academy — who has made outstanding contributions to our field and, in particular, to the field of schizophrenia.
This privilege is increased many times for me this year because the recipient of this award is not only a person who has made outstanding contributions, well known to me, but also a friend, a person whom I have known for many years, and for whom my admiration and respect transcend the limits of professional relations.
To use one of her preferred expressions, Alberta Szalita and I crossed our paths for the first time long ago, in Zurich in 1957, on the occasion of an international meeting on schizophrenia. What happened since then? If I were not afraid to be misunderstood because of the connotation given to the words that I am going to use, I would say that a long romance then started between Alberta and me. A romance of the minds? Yes, because in many respects we see things eye to eye, in the treatment of schizophrenia and in other matters. But it is not only a romance of the minds; and yet I beg you not to misinterpret my words — “Honi soit qui mal y pense” — but also a romance of the hearts,