Ludvig Igra 1945-2003

Our dear friend and inspiring colleague, Ludvig Igra, suddenly and unexpectedly, has died of a heart attack, 57 years old. He is survived by his wife Gudrun, who is also a psychoanalyst, their children Mirjam and David, his parents Sonia and Jakob, his brother Richard with wife Linda, and nephews Max and Daniel.

Ludvig's importance was immense not only to his family, but to his many friends, patients, colleagues, students, and those who read him or listened to his many lectures given to professional and general audiences. Most of us, whatever our formal relationship was with Ludvig, share the experience of having felt close to him. He had a remarkable interest in whomever he encountered; he made one feel important.

His last book from 2001, “Den tunna hinnan mellan omsorg och grymhet” [“The thin membrane between care and cruelty”], which may be regarded as the creative peak of his writing, is dedicated to his mother in gratitude for “her unending curiosity, hen joy in learning and developing as a human being.” These words also say much about Ludvig's trust in the world and his integrity; we will remember him for his curiosity and wish to learn and develop as a human being.

Ludvig was born in Poland in September 1945 as the first son of Jewish parents who had survived Nazism, hidden in Poland. He came to Sweden with his parents in 1947 and grew up in Stockholm. He was profoundly attached to Judaism and Jewish culture, and his family's wan experiences contributed to his special interest in the psychology of the perpetrator of cruelty. His first book, “Objektrelationer och psykoterapi” [“Object relations and Psychotherapy”], in 1983, was dedicated “to my father Jakob who remained courageous when terror reigned”.

Ludvig trained as a psychologist in Stockholm and started his psychoanalytic training in 1973 at the then non-IPA Swedish Association for Holistic Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, which today is a provisional society of the IPA renamed The Swedish Psychoanalytical