Obituary
Cesare Casati, A.R.P.A, Bergamo, Italy
On March 23, 2015 Cesare Casati passed away. We will always remember him with affection and esteem. His way of interacting with all of us, his colleagues and students, was marked by a sort of lightness, an extraordinary sense of irony, simple good manners and deep respect for others. One had the impression that all of his work on the phenomenon of psychosis had imbued him with a deep sense of his own limits and those of humanity in general.
All of us who knew him recognized the deep affection and connection he had with his family, and yet in a spirit of total discretion, he never made more than a few passing comments on his own home life or on the more intimate, personal sides of his existence.
A recent seminar of his in which he discussed and illustrated the introspective capacities of one of his psychotic patients was highly representative of his way of relating to life in general; even though he had been working in this field for a great number of years, his amazement and enthusiasm were striking and very refreshing. He seemed to incarnate Shoshin or the Beginner’s Mind of Zen Buddhism which, despite (or perhaps in virtue of) great expertise, depth and experience, never loses the freshness and sense of wonder of the fledgling scholar who makes a great discovery for the first time.
In a recent phone conversation shortly after he had been hospitalized, he spoke of the illness that was taking its toll on him. When asked if he wanted the matter to remain secret, he answered “Why?! After all, it’s not a sin to be sick!.” And in our concluding comments, we remarked that certain sins are indeed widespread and do in fact concern us all.