Obituaries

(6 January 1910-25 August 1998)

Sören Kierkegaard observed, ‘Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forward’. Dr Bührmann exemplified this axiom in all her actions, her decisions, her life energies. For her, the past was the respect for the ancestors, not just her own continuity to Afrikaner history but to the ancient and archetypal history of the African continent. In her work and writings she strove to challenge ‘established wisdoms’ and to initiate changes in the psychological and cultural lives of white ancestors of inheritance as well as in the rich and culturally complex lives of indigenous peoples. To honour Dr Bührmann is to honour the centre point of life's living moment … to be aware of the past, confident and courageous in risks necessary for the future. I know she possessed these attributes personally for I was privileged to be a confidant and colleague.

To understand Dr Bührmann's extraordinarily complex personality and the role model she has provided for women world-wide, I would turn to her two powerful, persuasive, and guiding mentors: Dr Robert F. Hobson, her personal analyst, and Dr D. W. Winnicott, her supervising and case analyst. She often spoke to me about what she learned from these two men, who challenged her preconceptions, welcomed the growing and developing sense of individuation that she exhibited, and, most importantly, assured her that she was no more the victim of the past than she was a creator of the future.

D. W. Winnicott impressed upon Dr Bührmann that ‘Home is where one starts from’, and that with ageing the complexity of the world brings past, present and future into dynamic tension, to paraphrase T. S. Eliot in his poem ‘East Coker’ from Four Quartets. Dr Winnicott stressed in his work with her that perfection belonged to machines, but imperfection is the one characteristic necessary for human adaptation. What she learned was that in maturity an individual may feel free and independent, despite never really be