Eric Brenman

As an army doctor, early in his career, Eric Brenman found himself on Africa’s Gold Coast (now Ghana) dealing with an outbreak of meningitis. He was confronted with a man who had been accused of a serious crime and who was in a disturbed state. The chief of the man’s tribe said, “That poor fellow has no home for his feelings.” These words, and an interest in the human psyche, stayed with Brenman, who became a psychoanalyst of international repute for his contribution to post-Kleinian theory and practice. “It was a big part of his work, the feeling of people needing a home for their feelings, a place where their feelings could be accepted and understood,” said his wife of 37 years and fellow psychoanalyst, Irma Brenman Pick.