Gérard D. Khoury – Obituary

Born in Lebanon Gérard D. Khoury lived in Aix-en-Provence and was known in France as a journalist, historian and writer who in his writings particularly addressed the Near East Conflict. As a young man he contacted Erich Fromm in 1960 for the first time. 

He discussed with Fromm the topic of his dissertation. Visiting Fromm several times in Mexico he sought Fromm's advice also because of quite personal questions. But also Fromm sought Khoury's advice on questions of how a peaceful cohabitation of Israeli and Palestinians could be possible—as Khoury writes in his memories of Fromm he contributed to the book The Clinical Erich Fromm. Personal Accounts and Papers on Therapeutic Technique (Funk, Ed., 2009).

Fromm's humanistic ideas impressed Khoury so much that he translated Fromm's The Revolution of Hope into French. Khoury saw in Fromm a Socratic thinker and teacher—"un initiateur socratique" as he spoke of Fromm at a conference the Fromm Society had with Khoury 2007 in Fés (Morocco). In winter 1978/79 Khoury could realize the idea to interview Erich Fromm in several sessions and to publish parts of the interviews 1979 in Le Monde. The interviews give access to many biographical detail Fromm liked to speak of in his encounter with Gérard Khoury. The whole interviews were published 2000 in a volume on the occasion of Fromm's centenary Khoury edited under the title Revoir Freud. Pour une autre approche en psychoanalyse.

When in 1985 the International Erich Fromm Society was founded Gérard Khoury was one of the patrons of the foundation. His relationship to the Fromm Society lasted until October 27, 2017, when he died in the age of 79 in Aix-en-Provence. Due to his many merits Gérard D. Khoury was a honorary member of the International Erich Fromm Society. With his death we lose a great promotor of Fromm's ideas and of the Fromm Society. Together with his wife Annie and his daughter we are sad about him.