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On November 15, 1991, Mirella Mattogno Donini died after an unrelenting illness borne with extraordinary strength. She had been a member of our Society since 1971, and was for many years unvaluable as scientific secretary of the Rome branch.
Although she was a discreet person by nature, and her last request had been for silence about her fate, the entire community of Palestrina turned out at her funeral to pay their respects to a woman who, always accompanied by her husband and children, had devoted most of her weekends to looking after the people in her home-town who needed help. In fact, like her maestro, Nicola Perrotti, who first introduced her to psychoanalysis (and the crowded cemetery was a vivid reminder of him), Mirella had always seen her profession first and foremost as an attempt to help the weak and suffering; as a commitment to the fact that however arduous life may be, with enough strength and love people can rediscover their faith in living.
Thoughtfulness and generosity were two of her predominant characteristics; it was so typical that we were all astonished to discover just how ill she was. As soon as she graduated she decided to devote her life to caring for the most helpless. She visited the Child Guidance Centres in America and then joined the Istituto di Neuropsichiatria Infantile as a specialist. With so many children in her care, it was natural that she should become interested in psychoanalysis, and from then on the growth of the mind and the obstacles to it became her main interest, together with practising psychoanalysis.
As for her qualities of tenacity and determination, those like myself who spent hours studying with her, or walked exhausting mountain hikes together, could not help feeling admiration for so much vitality accompanied by so much willingness to put her energy at other people's disposal.