In memoriam

Professor emeritus Bjørn Killingmo, nearly 93 years old, passed away peacefully Sunday 17 November. Bjørn belonged to the first generation of clinical psychologists in Norway, trained after World War II. In the beginning of the 1950s, being one of the first psychologists to enter the famous Vinderen psychiatric clinic, led by the mighty doctor Gabriel Langfeldt, he contributed significantly in making ‘psychologist’ a respected professional role. Afterwards followed academia. As a university teacher from 1958 till his retirement in 1997 Bjørn influenced countless classes of psychologists. Through his work as a teacher, textbook writer, researcher and supervisor – also after he retired – he has had a unique position within the clinical-psychological as well as within the psychoanalytical field in Norway, and also in the other Scandinavian countries. Through many years he had supervision groups in Denmark as well as Sweden. Highly treasured, with an exceptional clarity of thought – an excellent educator and supervisor.

At the Department of psychology, University of Oslo, Bjørn was a main driving force behind the creation of so-called internal clinics as an integrated part of the professional study of psychology. He was profoundly identified with Clinic for dynamic psychotherapy, based on the psychoanalytic theory of personality development and psychopathology, which he led for many years. Innumerable psychologist have got their formative education as psychologists in this clinic, which still today is the main recruitment base for candidates seeking psychoanalytic training. Bjørn was a dearly loved teacher and supervisor.

Bjørn was early trained as a psychoanalyst, and practiced psychoanalytic therapy all his life. In the tradition from Harald Schjelderup, the first professor of psychology in Norway, he sought to anchor psychoanalysis as part of general psychological science. Advancing a double-edged epistemological stance, he maintained that psychoanalysis must be in dia