Anthropological psychoanalysis, Bion's Journeying in Italy

Bion held his last seminar in Rome on 17th July 1977. Francesco Corrao, on behalf of all the participants, expressed his gratitude for the lessons which had been given. Bion thanked the participants for their gratitude and added that he hoped he would not seem rude if he compared Corrao’s description of his contribution to something of which he was aware but did not much like - the nearest image he could give was of a leaf falling from a tree without our being able to tell on which side it would land. At first I didn’t perceive the fact that he was expressing perplexity about, how his contribution would be received and worked through. I was more struck by the image he was using than by the content. In 1977, Bion was getting on in years and although in good health, he did not know what the future held for him. The image of the falling leaf remained in my mind as a farewell: his goodbye to the people with whom he had spent a week of fervent work.