Obituary: Marie Viachos 1946-2001

Marie Vlachos, aged 55 and member of The Swedish Psychoanalytical Society, died on the 8th of August 2001, after only 7 months of illness.

Marie Vlachos was born in Gothenburg with a Greek mother and a Swedish father. She had both these languages and cultures within herself. For the most part of her life, she lived in Sweden, but during some periods, she lived in Greece.

After high school, Marie lived abroad for some years. Among other things she worked as a tourist guide during these years. When the military junta took power in Greece, Marie took an active part in the resistance movement among Greeks living in exile in Sweden.

In the 70s, Marie studied psychology at the University of Stockholm. As a psychologist, she worked at a child guidance centre in one of the suburbs of Stockholm. This was an area with many immigrants, and among them, quite a lot of Greeks. Later on, she worked with a couple of colleagues at a special child guidance centre for Greek families.

Marie wanted to develop her skills in psychotherapy, and during the years 1988-91, she studied at The Stockholm County Council Psychotherapy Institute and became a fully qualified psychotherapist. She was very determined to be a psychoanalyst and therefore commenced an education at the Norwegian Psychoanalytic Society in Oslo 1993. For 4 years, she made the admirable achievement of going to Oslo every week for seminars and supervision and at the same time, earning her living through her private practice in Stockholm. However, the years of education in Oslo were not only tough, but also rewarding for Marie, who felt very well received in the Norwegian Psychoanalytical Society.

When Marie completed her education, she became a member of the Swedish Psychoanalytical Society. She was from the beginning an active member, participating in all kinds of conferences, seminars and meetings. When there was a need for a new treasurer from November 2000, Marie was willing to take on this considerable responsibility. During