In Hartmann's picture of child development, as not explainable in purely intrapsychic terms but having relations as well to a 'typical average environment', Gitelson finds a broader and more satisfactory approach to the problems of the child in the clinic than in ego-id psychology. Hartmann's concepts transcended the narrow dualism that had separated the biological from the sociological in mental development and thus made one aware that psychoanalysis could approach development from a holistic point of view seemingly affirmed in one's everyday experience in the clinic. The author describes Hartmann's career and contributions to psychoanalysis, and provides previously unpublished material on his distinguished background.