With sadness and regret, we mourn the death (at age 101) of Miltiades L. Zaphiropoulos, M.D., a 1951 graduate of the William Alanson White Institute's psychoanalytic training program. He joined Contemporary Psychoanalysis as an associate editor in 1969, and was member of the Editorial Board from 1995 until his death.
“Zaph” to some, “Milt” to others, he was a training and supervising analyst for many years, during which he worked with many of our candidates and graduates. He remained actively and deeply involved in Institute matters, including this journal, well into his 100th year.
Gracious and gallant, his wit and erudition contributed markedly to the sparkle that was part of his aura. He always seemed to be enjoying himself and his life, and he helped many in our community to live theirs more fully.
Through his association with the White Institute over nearly seven decades, he served on every single major administrative committee (including tenure as director of clinical services and director of training), offering his wisdom and boundless energy to countless other committees with devotion and compassion, generosity of spirit, and judicious temperament.
He delighted us consistently with his endurance and verve; growing up in Alexandria and educated at the Sorbonne, he mystified us with his inimitable use of language and imagery. A polyglot, he spoke French, Greek, Arabic, and English fluently. His thinking reflected his ability to draw on language that was altogether evocative and memorable, with unique melodies and cadences that led one colleague to quip about his idiosyncratic use of language, “he thinks in jazz.”
Milt both stunned and amazed us with his ability to recall both historical details and minutiae in his unofficial role as our “institutional memory,” often reminding us, as history repeated itself, that the controversy du jour had its roots in similar or identical conflicts decades earlier, ensuring that we continued to be able to distinguish between the essential and the nugatory. His experience of our Institute and Contemporary Psychoanalysis dated as far back as the earliest days of our history, and we came to rely on this experience for vivid portrayal of what it was like “in the olden days.” Amidst crises and controversies that shook the Institute to its bones, he taught us the value and virtue of grace, good manners, civility, and elegance. A consummate gentleman and truly an eminence grise, he brought his spirit and vitality to bear on the multitude of his involvements with us, an always welcome reminder (in his inimitably quiet way) of how we are all “simply human.” Many have been personally touched by his kindness and unstinting generosity.
Milt clearly took pleasure in our noting that he was older than Babar and Tintin put together. We found pleasure in his entertaining inclination to break spontaneously into song, often en français, reminding us of the value of playful engagement. He was our link to the past, he embodied our visions and dreams of the future, and above all his life was a reminder to live life fully in the present.
We have lost a stalwart elder of our community, and we are much diminished by this loss.
Articles by Miltiades Zaphiropoulos in Contemporary Psychoanalysis
Reference
- Zaphiropoulos, M. L. (1969). Discussion of R.F. Kuhn's “Modernity and death: ‘The Leopard’ by Giuseppe di Lampedusa.” Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 5, 119–124.
- Zaphiropoulos, M. L. (1973). Discussion of J. L. Schimel's “The power theme in the obsessional.” Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 9, 23–26.
- Zaphiropoulos, M. L. (1973). Psychoanalytic goals: Facts or fantasy. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 9, 153–158.
- Zaphiropoulos, M. L. (1973). Discussion of R. M. Count's “Family therapy as a parameter of individual psychotherapy.” Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 9, 514–517.
- Zaphiropoulos, M. L. (1983). An appraisal of H. Deutsch's “Control analysis.” Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 19, 67–70.
- Zaphiropoulos, M. L. (1987). Symposium. “Clinical innovations and theoretical controversy”: Introduction. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 23, 181–182.
- Zaphiropoulos, M. L. (1987). Ethnocentricity and psychoanalysis. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 23, 446–462.
- Zaphiropoulos, M. L. (1991). Introduction: The analytic stalemate: Clinical perspectives. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 27, 482.
- Zaphiropoulos, M. L. (1993). Symposium. “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”: Responsibility, accountability and the pursuit of foolishness. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 29, 123–129.
- Zaphiropoulos, M. L. (1997). Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 33, 633–640.
- Zaphiropoulos, M. L. (2000). The ineffable articulated. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 36, 281–288.
- Zaphiropoulos, M. L. (2007). A reflective appraisal: Discussion of Mi Yu's “Across generation, genders, and cultures.” Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 43, 445–448.
- Zaphiropoulos, M. L. (2013). Recollections of Greenberg and Mitchell. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 49, 8–10.