The 1996 Sigourney Awards for excellence in psychoanalysis were awarded to Jorge L. Ahumada of Argentina, Andrè Lussier of Canada, Raphael Moses of Israel, and David Rosenfeld of Argentina. Bernard Pacella presided at the awards ceremony on December 20 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. Pacella told how he had convinced Mary Sigourney to bequeath the money for the award to the foundation he proposed, despite her ambivalence with analytic organizations.
This year's awards were for outstanding work in psychoanalysis outside the United States and Europe.
Sara Zac de File of Argentina presented the award to Ahumada, who is a training analyst of APdeBA and Latin American editor of the International Journal of Psycho-Analysis.
He gave a talk on inductive logic as the cornerstone of psychoanalytic thought. Citing Freud's Interpretation of Dreams, he concluded that psychoanalysis is an Aristotelian science because it is observational.
Harold Blum introduced Lussier, who modestly declared that he was very surprised by the award and did not know what he had done to deserve it. He said receiving the award had enhanced his self-esteem.
Mortimer Ostow introduced Moses. Ostow gave an extensive history of Moses' father and his contributions to the State of Israel and to scholarship. Moses said he was grateful for the honor, which he felt redounded to the Israeli Psychoanalytic Association and which he represented that evening.
Otto Kernberg introduced Rosenfeld with an anecdote about Juliette Greco. Rosenfeld said his interest in the mysteries of the mind had led him to find teachers in Buenos Aires, Paris, and the United States.