Obituary Notices

Robert Moody died suddenly and unexpectedly in his 62nd year on August 26, 1970, while on holiday at his cottage in Devon.

His last appointment was as Director of the Department of Child Psychiatry at St George's Hospital, London, a department for whose independent development he had done a great deal. He was equally prominent in treatment and in administration. One of his colleagues who after his death went through his papers told me that the amount of work Robert had been doing was quite unbelievable.

Previous appointments included registrar in psychological medicine and in child psychiatry at Guy's Hospital (where he also held the Sir Alfred Fripp memorial research fellowship in child psychiatry), and clinical director of the Child Guidance Training Centre. During the war he worked as a psychiatrist to the Emergency Medical Service at Woodside Hospital. He played an active part in the affairs of the Association of Child Psychotherapists (nonmedical) as a member of their Medical Advisory and Training Councils, and as Chairman of their Selection Committee. If I add that he held the M.B., B.S. (as well as the Conjoint) and the D.P.M. we have a bare outline of his official career.

But how little all this says about the energetic, kind, and human person he was! His deep interest in everything he thought worthwhile, his human concern for his patients, and the tremendous energy and care he put into promoting child psychiatry were outstanding.

He was a highly sensitive person, and his whole artistic personality (he was an accomplished amateur pianist and fond of painting) made him dislike fights. All the more one had to admire the determination and single-mindedness with which he fought for his beliefs and against indifference; where the interest of his work, his department, his colleagues were at stake he battled to the last until he had achieved what he set out to do. In all this he had a unique sense of proportion and fairness, and even in the toughest situati