René A. Spitz—1887-1974

THE DEATH OF RENÉ A. SPITZ ON SEPTEMBER 14, 1974 ENDED THE career of one of the original members of the editorial board of this Annual. He died quietly in his sleep with dignity, which was the way he had hoped to die. The last few months were burdensome as his strength ebbed and he was reduced increasingly to shorter periods of creative work and more restricted "dialogues" with a few close scientific collaborators, intimate friends, and family. The stimulation of scientific thinking and the interchange with friends and colleagues were the basis of living for René. The restrictions on his energy toward the end were difficult for him to accept, and he spoke openly and honestly of his forthcoming death with a sense of accomplishment in ending an exciting life and a productive scientific career.

Born in Vienna January 29, 1887, he graduated in medicine at the University of Budapest (Hungary) in 1910. Sandor Ferenczi, one of his teachers, stimulated his interest in analysis while René was a student. Upon graduation he sought a didactic analysis from Sigmund Freud (1910–1911). His psychoanalytic career was temporarily interrupted by World War I when he served in the Medical