Mario Jacoby: (1925-2011)

On 1 October 2011, Mario Jacoby passed away peacefully after a brief illness. His death marks the end of an era and the closing of a significant chapter in the history of our Jungian community. Mario was born in Leipzig, Germany, in 1925. At the age of four his parents divorced and, with his mother, he moved initially to Zurich but eventually was sent to live with an uncle in St. Gallen, Switzerland. His father remained in Leipzig and would eventually become one of the victims of the holocaust. Mario would sometimes recount the pain and sadness he felt when he learned that his father had died in the transport convoy on the way to one of the concentration camps. His mother went to Palestine where she settled and hoped that her son would eventually join her. The outbreak of World War II made that impossible and forced Mario to stay with his relatives where he pursued his studies and completed Gymnasium. These early life events left an indelible impression on Mario and would leave him with a great interest in and sensitivity to the profound impact and psychological significance of early childhood attachments. Mario went on to study music in Paris and London and eventually became a violinist with the Chamber Orchestra of Zurich. As a musician however, Mario was plagued by stage fright. Tony Frey, a friend from Gymnasium and later Jungian colleague, mentioned that he was seeing a Jungian analyst by the name of Jolande Jacobi and suggested that he contact her. Mario would often regale friends with the humorous account of their first telephone contact with each one stating their surname in greeting till finally Jolande Jacobi understood they shared the same surname, though the spelling is slightly different. This was the beginning of a long and winding path that would lead Mario eventually to begin training at the Jung Institute on Gemeindestrasse and to enrol concurrently at the University of Zurich to do a doctoral programme in philosophy, pedagogy and the history of rel