MINUTES
February 14, 2010

International Ferenczi Foundation
Skype Meeting of the Board
on February 14, 2010, between 6. 30 pm and 7.45 pm.

Present: Members of the Board: Judit Mészáros, Franco Borgogno, Carlo Bonomi, Luis Martin Cabré, Monica Takács; absent Kathleen Kelley-Lainé; invited guest: Jay Frankel.

Agenda:
1. Updating the Ferenczi House project;
2. Discussion of Proposal for a Ferenczi handbook;
3. Other issues.

Updating the Ferenczi House project
Judit Meszaros updates the economic situation. The Ferenczi Soc. offered 30.000 US (38.000 of the Mary Sigourney Award before tax) for the Ferenczi House project. Presently there are in deposit of the bank accounts of the Ferenczi Society and in the Int. Ferenczi Foundation: 700. 000 HUF (that is approx. 3150 EUR), 28.000 EUR and 32.000 US. Altogether: 31.150 EUR and 32. 000 US

The missing sum for purchasing the Ferenczi house now is: 19.300 EUR.

We also have to calculate with the rental fee of the house, that is 70,000 HUF (approx. 260 EUR/month)

As decided in the last meeting of the board (November 2008, inBudapest), 2.000 EUR was offered by the International Ferenczi Foundation for furnishing the house.

The Ferenczi House is being used for visits and projections of the Ferenczi-film. It is comfortable for 25-30 persons.

Franco Borgogno informs that people (psychoanalysts) are willing to stay for sentimental reasons in the house for one-two nights, instead of in the grand Hotel, and are ready to make donations for it.

Judit Meszaros says that presently we do not have a technical solution for it, and that we should explore the concrete possibility, without forgetting the destination (Archive).

Other issues
Forget-me-not Appeal, 2010 – remembrance days for Ferenczi with a flower icon (plan is in work-in-progress by the Ferenczi Society).

The new plan is to prepare remembrance days for Ferenczi. The title of the project is: Forget-me-not Appeal, 2010. The goal: the appeal’s objective has double purpose: the income will provide substantial sum for buying the Ferenczi house, and the one week appeal will open communication on Ferenczi for a wider audience and facilitate to integrate Ferenczi’s Legacy into the Hungarian culture. The appeal will run in several major cities in Hungary at public places, like subway stations, universities, etc. A flower icon Forget-me-not will be sold for 200 HUF (0.7 EUR or 1. - USD) , there is coin of 200 HUF, so it is quite easy to give it – as a remembrance for Ferenczi. The people will wear it for a week. People in the streets will get flyers on Ferenczi. (The background of this idea is Poppy Appeal charityweek for veterans in early November in the UK.) There will be a substantial preparatory period in the media on Ferenczi.

It is stressed that Ferenczi is not known and that in order to reach the people, we should associate the name of Ferenczi to effective symbols. Jay suggests to focus on “trauma and child abuse”.
Judit asked for some helpon how to express the essence of Ferenczi in an understandable and - as Jay put it - “touchy” way. Carlo used the word “prophet”: Associations was going on to Semmelweis: who was not recognised in his time and the theme could be: “rediscovery of trauma”.

Organizing the next Ferenczi conference in Budapest, in 2012 would create a situation for letting Ferenczi be known to people and would help in the fundraising. Since this is convenient only if the overlapping with the IPA conference is avoided, we have to wait for the latter decision (end March).

Decision: we could write immediately to Josette Garon, who is ready to organize the conference in Montreal, that the first choice should be Budapest in order to be able to terminate the Ferenczi House project, although a final decision will be possible only in about two months. The letter should circulate among the people who took part in the last Ferenczi-conferences.

Judit will contact with Josette Garon. Franco will send to Judit Garon’s e-mail address and phone number.

Proposal of a Ferenczi handbook
Judit outlines the scope of an international editorial project of Ferenczi, consisting in a) a biographical part (personal life, cultural circles); b) an history of his institutional life; c) contributions; d) primary and secondary bibliography.

Borgogno points out the need of a new English translation of the collected works of Ferenczi.

Luis Martin Cabré is ready to be of help in his new position of president of the MadridPsychoanalytical Society.

Decision: discussion of the Ferenczi handbook project will be continuing at the next meeting.

The meeting is suspended at 7.45 pm.

Next meeting: Sunday 14, March 2100, at 6,15 pm, on skype (postponed to Sunday 11, April 2020)

Note: Please, recall that the members do not have to “call” but just answer to the call of the entire group, on the part of Carlo. If someone looses the connection, the only way to reestablish it quickly is: everyone has to close the skype and wait to be recalled.

February 15, 2010.

Judit Meszaros and Carlo Bonomi