Abram Kardiner, one of the great pioneers of modern psychoanalysis, died in July 1981 at his summer home in Easton, Connecticut. He had lived in Manhattan, where he still maintained an active consultation practice and, until the very end, loved nothing better than intense intellecual, theoretical discourse.
Dr. Kardiner was one of the early members of the New York Psychoanalytic Institute, the first training school of its kind in the United States, bringing Sandor Rado from Berlin to be Educational Director in the 1930's. In 1945 he was one of the founders with Rado of the Columbia University Center For Psychoanalytic Training and Research. He was Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, where from 1955 to 1957 he was Director of the Psychoanalytic Center.
Even more important is his lasting contribution to psychoanalytic knowledge and theory. Despite his personal and professional admiration of Freud, “K”, as he was affectionately called, raised certain critical questions in psychoanalysis 40 and 50 years ago that only recently have become integral to psychoanalytic thinking. His first major contribution grew out of his experience with the war neurosis, which led him to recognize the limitations of libido theory. These studies led him to a critique of libido theory and a theoretical exposition of what has come to be known as adaptational theory, a forerunner of ego psychology.
His second major intellectual contribution grew out of the application of psychoanalytic thinking to other cultures. His emphasis on the interaction between social institutions and individual personality, along with his concept of internalized structure and basic personality, precede contemporary object relations theories. His work can justly be seen as prior to and in line with contemporary ego psychology and object relations theory.
Born on the lower east side, self-made, his life took its definitive course when he was accepted as a student-patient by Freud. Iconoclast and independent thinker though he was, that contact was seminal to his work. He was told by Freud he was a “Menchen Kenner”, a compliment he treasured all his life. His last work, My Analysis With Freud, is a reminiscence about his early life and the formative experience with Freud.
In addition to his intellectual and scientific gifts, those who knew him well cherish not only the memory of his warmth and wit but also his sharp tongue in defense of what he considered scientific truth. For a man like Abram Kardiner, his work was never done. He always expressed his profound joy at his successful, personal life. He is survived by his wife, Ethel, his daughter, Ellen Kaiser, his son-in-law, Lawrence Kaiser, and his little grandson, David.
Ethel Spector Person, M.D.
New York