A group of leading figures in the field of child and adolescent pyschoanalysis have organized the Elisabeth Geleerd Memorial Committee as a way of memorializing the late Dr. Elisabeth Geleerd Loewenstein, whose untimely death in May, 1969 was a shock to her friends and colleagues both in this country and abroad.
Over the signature of Dr. Albert J. Solnit this Committee has circulated a letter announcing its formation and its plans to undertake activities in memory of Dr. Geleerd. The text of the letter follows:
“Dear Colleague:
“As you are doubtless aware, Elisabeth Geleerd Loewenstein died sudenly of a cerebral hemorrhage at the height of her career on May 25, 1969. We are writing to ask you to join with us in honoring Dr. Geleerd and her contributions to psychoanalysis, especially as they focussed on the understanding of children and adolescents. As a representative group of friends and colleagues, we have organized the Elisabeth Geleerd Memorial Committee to provide an opportunity for all who wish to memoralize Dr. Geleerd in an appropriate manner.
“We plan to recommend that there be educational activties, including a continuing Elisabeth Geleerd Workshop on Adolescence in the American Association for Child Psychoanalysis. We welcome your suggestions about other appropriate scientific events or activities that will support Dr. Geleerd's interests in advancing the understanding and care of adolescents.
“For those who wish to assist financially, the Elisabeth Geleerd Memorial Committee will be very pleased to receive contributions on this occasion to assist in carrying on these memorial activities. There will be no further solicitation. Your checks should be made payable to the Anna Freud Foundation in order that your contributions can be tax deductible. Please indicate on your check that the contribution is for the use of the Elisabeth Geleerd Memorial Committee.
“We look forward to hearing from you in care of Dr. Solnit at 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, Connecticut 06510.”
Dr. Geleerd, who in private life was the wife of Dr. Rudolph M. Loewenstein, had long been a leader and a faculty member in the New York Psychoanalytic Institute and had been for many years active in the affairs of the American Psychoanalytic Association.
A native of Amsterdam, Dr. Geleerd attended medical school at the University of Leyden. She trained in psychiatry first at the University of Vienna and then at Maudsley and Mill Hill Hospitals in London. Her training in child and adult analysis was started at the Vienna Institute and was completed at the London Institute in 1940. The same year she came to America and took a position at the Menninger Clinic; by 1943 she had become Director of Psychotherapy in the Southard School. Dr. Geleerd came to N. Y. in 1945, joined the New York Society and was appointed to its Institute Faculty in 1947. Her numerous publications dealt mainly with children and adolescents.