Obituary Notice

Franz Riklin, Curatorium President of the C. G. Jung Institute for more than 12 years, died quite unexpectedly on August 1, 1969.

His childhood was spent on the shores of the Lake of Zürich near the home of C. G. Jung. His mother was Jung's cousin and his father was one of Jung's close collaborators. Riklin attended elementary and secondary school in Zürich, where he also studied medicine. Upon obtaining his medical diploma, he specialized in surgery and later in internal medicine. With growing experience in these fields, which revealed to him the importance of psychology and the unconscious, he decided to devote himself to psychiatry and psychotherapy.

After an extensive period of training at the Burghölzli Mental Hospital in Zürich, he settled in his private psychiatric practice in 1943. In addition to the treatment of patients, he soon became an active exponent of Jungian psychology. In 1952 he was made a member of the Curatorium of the Jung Institute and in 1957 he was elected its chairman. The impressive development of the Institute as a centre for training and research must to a large extent be attributed to his efforts, which played a decisive role in moulding the distinctive character of this institution.

For several years, Riklin was also president of the International Society for Analytical Psychology. During his time in office, he left his undeniable mark on two International Congresses for Analytical Psychology organized in Zürich.

Despite the many demands made upon him by his practice and by the various organizations for which he was responsible, he found the time to engage intensively in research and teaching. His lectures at the Jung Institute were among the most interesting. New topics fired his imagination time and time again. During the latter part of his life he worked on Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream and the year immediately preceding his death he began a study of Joan of Arc.

In addition to his work in the field of Jungian Psychology, Riklin