Arthur Hyatt Williams died on 27th August after a long illness, aged
94. Arthur was a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst and was Chair of the
Adolescent Department for 10 years, from 1969 to 1979. He was passionately
committed to the work of the Adolescent Department, taught, supervised
and wrote about adolescence, and one particularly memorable paper was
on the impact of adolescence on those who worked with this age group.
Arthur continued, post-retirement, to contribute to the adolescent psychotherapy
workshop which Gianna ran with Margot Waddell for many years. He also
taught Bion to the child psychotherapy trainees, wanted to make sure
that trainees read Bion and worked with them to understand his complex
and important thinking.
Arthur was also very strongly committed to trying to understand and
help people who had murdered, and he was very active in campagining
to abolish the death penalty. He visited one patient almost daily in
Pentonville for many years in order that he could have an analysis.
In 1998, well into his retirement, he put together his thinking in his
widely-welcomed book, Cruelty, Violence and Murder.
Arthur was a charming and delightful colleague and friend. He was much
loved and much respected by those who knew him.
Trudy Klauber, Tavistock Clinic