The PANY Bulletin

Psychoanalytic Association of New York
Volume 42, #3 Fall 2004

In Memory of Otto Sperling, M.D.
Eulogy by Alan Eiznitz, M.D.

Introduced and presented by Lawrence Deutsch, M.D. at the PANY Scientific Meeting for the 30th Melitta Sperling Memorial Lecture October 18, 2004.

Introduction
It is with great pleasure that I will read Dr. Alan Eisnitz's eulogy of Dr. Otto Sperling. For over a quarter of a century Dr. Blum and I have shared Chairmanship of the Melitta Sperling Memorial Lectures. Until about 5-6 years ago, Dr. Otto Sperling would attend these meetings and the dinners preceding them. I recall our conversation at the last meeting attended by Dr. Sperling. Someone commented that I often went to the gym. With a twinkle Otto said that he believed that one should not overwork any area of the body. Thus he didn't over exercise and here he was in his 90s walking without a cane and without pain. He then said that the only part he exercised was his brain. Then he mused that perhaps he over-exercised it and that was why he sometimes forgot names.

In Memory of Otto Sperling, M.D.
We recently learned that Dr. Otto Sperling died December 23, 2002 at the age of one hundred and three. Born December 14, 1899, he was one of the few who lived in each of the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries. He was among the founding members both of PANY and The Psychoanalytic Institute of the N. Y. U. Medical Center (in those days, The Division of Psychoanalytic Education of the Downstate Medical Center). He was a Past President of PANY and was a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Institute.
Otto Sperling was born and raised in Vienna, the middle of three children. His older brother died as a teen-ager, but except for this tragic event, the family led the relatively uneventful life of a Viennese Jewish family. Otto was a serious violinist through his teen-age years, and by watching his sister taking lessons and playing the piano, he also picked up enough knowledge to become a passably adequate piano player. His violin playing and his love of music remained an important enthusiasm for him throughout his life.
In Vienna, he entered Medical School; an early interest in surgery gave way to a commitment to Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis. He completed his Psychoanalytic training in Vienna including seminars and meetings at Freud's home. He was one of the few, perhaps the last of living analysts who had personal contact with Freud. During Medical School, he met and later married a classmate, Dr. Melitta Sperling.
Otto and his wife established their practices in Vienna, Otto in Psychoanalysis, and Melitta in Pediatrics. Melitta, meanwhile, became interested in psychoanalysis and began training with Anna Freud. She later completed training in N.Y. and she too became a Training and Supervising Analyst, in both Child and Adult Psychoanalysis. They had two children. The oldest, a son, became a cognitive scientist with a primary interest in studying brain function, in particular, visual perception; he is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
A second child, a daughter became an artist, specializing in community art and murals. The Sperlings themselves were enthusiastic collectors and developed a large art collection. They regularly attended opera performances both in Vienna and later in New York.
In Vienna, rumblings of Nazism, both in Austria and Germany began to be heard. Relatively early, Otto understood and anticipated the dangers that Hitler presented and concluded that the future for Jews in Vienna would be bleak. In preparation, he applied for visas in 1934, and at the same time, began regular English instruction for the entire family. Hitler's "Anschluss" in 1938 confirmed his fears; Nazi soldiers broke into his office and forcibly arrested him. Friends and some of his patients interceded on his behalf and he was released, but his close call gave a message that demanded action. Some time later in 1938, exit visas were granted, and taking with them the child of one of Melitta's siblings, the family departed for Holland and then to the United States.
They established their home and their practices first in Brooklyn, later moving to Manhattan. They obtained Board certification and taught both at the Medical School and at the Psychoanalytic Institute. They were members of the American Psychoanalytic Association, PANY, and the New York Psychoanalytic Society. In this country they continued a practice they had followed earlier in Vienna of donating a half-day each week to pro bono work, serving at clinics at Brooklyn Jewish Hospital as well as at Kings County Hospital.
Otto Sperling published a variety of papers on psychoanalysis covering many areas. These included studies on Traumatic Neurosis, Imaginary Companions, Group Perversions (Jacob Arlow, Co-author), Appersonation, Spacing and Crowding of Emotions, and Illusions, among others. Each paper is characterized by clear clinical illustrations and by an anticipation of developments in ego psychology that were to come later. They show a keen elucidation of many phenomena relating to object relations and the outside world expressed in classical psychoanalytic formulations.
Dr. Sperling was a highly sought analyst and teacher, known for his empathy and sensitivity; he was appropriately supportive of his patients, students and colleagues. In many ways he was the embodiment of a Viennese gentleman, courtly and gracious, but always willing to present his own views freely and vigorously.
Apparently the beneficiary of a genetically derived vigor, he continued to remain alert and active practically to the last days of his life. In his later years he moved to California to be closer to his children. His collection of opera video-discs continued to provide many hours of pleasure for him; Ingmar Bergman's film of Mozart's, "The Magic Flute" was one of his special favorites. When live productions were available, he attended them even during his later years in California. He was particularly proud that at age one hundred and one he was still able to go to the opera without having to use a cane!
We all belatedly mourn the loss of one of our esteemed colleagues.