In praise of Dr Leslie Sohn 1919–2013

Dr Leslie Sohn, a world expert on the psychotic mind, an NHS psychiatrist for 62 years, a psychoanalyst (training adult and child analyst), a collector of Chinese antiquities and a lover of flowers, a lifelong supporter of Manchester United FC, a family man, died on 18 March 2013 aged 93 years. Dr Sohn spent his incredibly long working life dedicated to the plight of patients in forensic psychiatry systems and teaching and supervising professionals from the different disciplines involved in their care.

Leslie Sohn was born in Cape Town, 1919, the youngest of three children, having two sisters several years older. He attended the local public day school and then read medicine at the University of Cape Town. His attachment to the psychiatric department of the university hospital produced clear signs of a profound interest in this field. He completed his House Officer posts in Durban and waited for the war to end before coming to England for postgraduate training in psychiatry.

Dr Sohn was delighted to be appointed Senior House Physician in 1947 to Aubrey Lewis at the Maudsley Hospital. In 1948, with the forming of the National Health Service, his attachment became one of Psychiatric Registrar and then, Senior Registrar. The word ‘psychoanalysis’ had not yet entered his vocabulary. Whilst working at the Maudsley Hospital, he was fortunate to work clinically for Clifford Scott and William Gillespie who inspired his psychoanalytic interest. He was encouraged to apply to the Institute of Psychoanalysis, was accepted and supervised by Marion Milner and Hannah Segal, qualifying in 1952. Two of his peers during the training were Sidney Klein and Isabelle Menzies-Lyth with whom he maintained a friendship over several decades. They continued to meet regularly at postgraduate seminars, including over a period of 12 years at the Rosenfeld seminar, where Sohn and Klein presented. A similar pattern took place at the Segal postgraduate seminar over many years.

Throughout this time, Dr