Memorial Service for Ismond Rosen (part 1)

Recording of the memorial for Ismond Rosen, held in the Royal Society of Medicine auditorium, c.Jul 1997.
Labelled 'Debbie Ellis. World Index. Rolls Ismond Rosen #1. Rushes'. The first 2 minutes and 30 seconds have poor sound quality but this improves to acceptable standard thereafter. The recording and filming is done from the back of the hall/venue and the camera is static.

Content: Hugh Rosen hosts the memorial and introduces each speaker. In his initial speech he talks of Rosen's childhood in South Africa and his career development in art and psychiatry and his post at Weskoppies Hospital, his arrival in Britain in 1951, followed by a tour of Europe and a return to England to work and study at the Maudsley Hospital under Aubrey Lewis.

The first guest speaker is Dr Malcolm Pines. He talks about his time at the Maudsley with Rosen who was working under Erwin Stengel, and describes how Rosen refused to give up psychoanalysis for just psychiatry and how Aubrey Lewis supervised his work on obsessions in schizophrenia at the Maudsley. Pines also reminisces about the hospital staff pantomimes and Rosen's talent for mimickry (notably of Lewis). Ilse Hellmann was Rosen's analyst during this period. Pines recounts how Rosen left the Maudsley to go to the Portman Clinic and was also involved with the small British Hospital for Functional and Nervous Diseases (which later became the Camden Hospital) and the Paddington Clinic (of which Rosen was chairman for 13 years), as well as building up a busy private practice. Rosen's work at the Portman, Pines says, led to his book on Sexual Deviation. Pines adds that Rosen once thought to become a plastic surgeon and that his sculpture demonstrated his skill in that area. He adds a note about a holiday Rosen, Eric Bremman and himself took in Europe in the 1950s, although modesty does not permit any more detail on this occasion!

The second speaker is Dr Louis de la Siera a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who met Rosen in 1979 at the Paddington Centre for Psychotherapy. De la Siera was helped, supported and encouraged by Rosen in his career. He focuses on Rosen's work on sexual deviation and his campaign to decriminalise homosexuality, and in particular his appearance on a television programme After Dark during which he had to deal with a 'difficult' panel and audience of homosexuals.

De la Siera is followed by Hugh who quotes from Rosen's unpublished 'Coincidence and Creativity' autobiography.

The third speaker is Sir Sigmund Sternberg, formerly of the Paddington Clinic, who describes working there with Ismond Rosen at a time when Rosen was also preparing for an exhibition of his work at the Whibley Gallery. Sternberg focuses on the cultural and social value of Rosen's creative artistic work, notably the Holocaust Triptych.

Hugh then talks about the 'Genesis' exhibition and Rosen's religious experiences and trips to Israel including to the Sinai in 1981.

The fourth speaker is Jean Barraclough who talks about the trips to Israel and how Rosen taught himself photography and became an adept photographer whilst in Israel producing images of professional quality. She also speaks of his ability to become expert in anything he decided to take up, notably gardening, and his hard-working nature. She recounts how 1973-1974 was an extremely busy time for Rosen preparing for the 'Genesis' exhibition at the Camden Arts Centre. Rosen was interviewed by Stainless magazine and explained that the urge to create comes from the fear of dying, that sculptures are enduring, a monument to a person, a kind of immortality.

This is followed by a slide show of images of Ismond Rosen and his art works.

The fifth speaker is William Franklin, former editor of the Jewish Chronicle and close friend of Rosen. Franklin speaks of Rosen's endless energy, his exuberance and gusto, his enthusiasm for anything he undertook, and his compassion as a close friend. He also records how Ismond dealt with his illness in the last two years, remaining positive, determined to overcome the disease and communicating even when he had lost the ability to speak and most of his movement.

The sixth speaker is film director David Puttnam, a former patient and later good friend of Rosen. Puttnam started seeing Rosen when he returned from Los Angeles having been diagnosed with ME. He explains how Rosen believed that Puttnam's ME was stress related but that Puttnam was not convinced, believing more in viral theory. He recounts how their sessions turned into lively discussions on a variety of subjects and how Rosen helped him to grow as a person. Puttnam describes how he recognised early on Rosen's first symptoms of MND. He goes on to talk of Rosen's commitment to the importance of perpetuating and disseminating culture, a pioneering attitude at that time.

The seventh speaker is Lord Mishcon. He tells a story of a remote Jewish community in Russia. There, the Rabbi is asked by his pupils how to lighten the darkness. The Rabbi tells them to go down to the cellar and shout at the darkness. They do that but return saying that it was still there. The Rabbi then told each of them to take a candle down there. They return reporting that this worked. The moral was that if you just shout and complain there will still be darkness in the world, but if each person brings some light it lessens the darkness. He speaks of how Rosen brought a candle of light to so many things he undertook, notably his work with mental illness and his Holocaust Triptych. In his last days he brought the light of patience to overcome his suffering.

Three copies of the video are held.

c. Jul 1997

3 video cassettes: each approx. 58 mins, 10 secs