In the Traces of our Name

Dr Juan Eduardo Tesone was born in Argentina. He received an Honours Degree as a physician from the University of Buenos Aires, and was a medical resident in psychiatry in the Buenos Aires Children's Hospital from 1974 to 1976. He moved to Paris in 1977, where he trained at, and is now a Full Member of, the Paris Psychoanalytical Society. He trained at, and is now a Full Member of, the Paris Psychoanalytical Society. He was a resident physician at La Salpetriere Hospital (1977-1978), and has been an adviser to the Social Welfare Ministry of France. In 1998, he returned to Argentina. He is a Full Member and Training Analyst of the Argentine Psychoanalytic Association and Full Member of the International Psychoanalytical Association. At present, he is a Professor at La Pitie-Salpetriere Medical School, University of Paris VI Pierre et Marie Curie, Professor of the Masters Programme in Interdisciplinary Studies on Subjectivity, School of Philosophy, University of Buenos Aires, Professor of the Masters Program in Psychoanalysis of the School of Psychology of the University Del Salvador (USAL), Buenos Aires. He is an Invited Professor of the School of Psychology of the University of Paris-Ouest Nanterre. He is the author of more than 100 articles in specialist journals, edited in Spanish, French, English, Italian, German, Portuguese, and Croatian, and author and co-author of several books.

'When we wish to preserve our patients' anonymity, we refer to them as Mr or Mrs X or we call them an imaginary given name - Hans or Dora, for example - as if a false first name could replace the proper name without consequences. Psychoanalysts have written a good deal about the influence of the patronym but very little about that of the given name. We must be grateful to J. E. Tesone for dedicating an original and very well documented study to a subject that actually calls upon us in every psychoanalytic cure. His great clinical experience and double Argentine and French culture enable him to address this theme with high clinical finesse and all the wealth of his cultural sources. This work offers its reader a goldmine of reflections that can easily be applied to clinical practice and to a deeper understanding of the effects of transmissions of family symbolism.'- Professor Daniel Widlocher, full member of the French Psychoanalytical Association, past-President of the International Psychoanalytical Association'An excellent review of the meaning and function of names in different cultures, religions, and through literature. The impact of the name gives body to the being and to the road of life in a context of social security. What occurs with the name in a context of sociopolitical violence that attacks the being, tries to erase it, to scratch it out and make its traces disappear, to change the naming or to not name at all? The psychoanalytic viewpoint accompanies the whole itinerary of this exciting exploration.'- Professor Yolanda Gampel, full member, Israel Psychoanalytic Society'Although the interest of the subject of the "name" presented by Tesone is multiple, I also consider it an essential element of what we [Willy and Madeleine Baranger] wish to emphasize as the notion of "field" in analytic relations. It is precisely this fact that is implicitly and explicitly exemplified in the cases in this highly interesting book.'- Madeleine Baranger, full member, Argentine Psychoanalytic Association

• Psychoanalytic Ideas and Applications Series -- Foreword -- Introduction -- Why do we name? -- Some historical and cultural considerations with regard to naming -- The meaning of names in different cultures -- Naming in the Old Testament -- Giving a name: is it imperative to name a newborn child? -- From the name's determining force to its signifying force -- Freud and names -- The name in literature -- State terrorism in Argentina and children seized by the military power (1976–1983) -- The given name in psychoanalytical clinical work