Deceased July 4, 2009
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In Memory
Henry Eisner, age 80, formerly of Bala Cynwyd, a retired psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, passed away on Saturday, July 4, 2009, at his home in Philadelphia from complications relating to Parkinson's Disease.
Born in Newark, New Jersey, Dr. Eisner was a graduate of Deerfield Academy (1947), Amherst College (1951), and of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School ( 1955). He married Eleanor Wiberg in 1958 and, after Dr. Eisner's induction into the United States Army, Dr. and Mrs. Eisner moved to Germany, where then-Captain Eisner served as Assistant Chief of Pediatrics at the U.S. Army Hospital, Landstuhl, Germany.
When Henry and Ellie returned to the United States in 1960, Dr. Eisner began training as a psychoanalyst. He maintained a private practice in Philadelphia until 1999. He was a member of the faculty and supervising analyst in the Institute of the Philadelphia Association for Psychoanalysis (Child and Adolescent Division), an associate professor of Pediatrics and Child Psychiatry with Allegheny University Health Systems, Hahnemann Division, and a senior attending physician at Belmont Center for Comprehensive Care in Philadelphia. Dr. Eisner authored numerous articles in medical journals, including "The Predisposition to Croup," published in the American Journal of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 237, No. 1, January, 1959, which identifies psychological factors that contribute to the incidence of croup in certain patients, and initiated Dr. Eisner's interest in psychosomatic disorders and ultimately his career in psychiatry. He was an active member of the American Psychoanalytic Association for many years.
He was deeply interested in the writings of James Joyce and lectured on psychological issues expressed in Joyce's fiction. In his last years he worked to identify and describe psychiatric issues that contribute to symptoms in Parkinson's disease. At Amherst College, Henry lettered in soccer and was a member of Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. His father, Mortimer, preceded Henry as a graduate of Amherst College. He is survived by his children Benjamin (Lois Murphy) and Elizabeth (Mark Lloyd). He also leaves behind 4 grandchildren, Emily, Lily, Robert and Ingrid, as well as a sister, Gretchen Eisner Rachlin. His wife of 48 years, Eleanor Eisner predeceased him in 2007, and his sister, Joan Eisner Garb, in February of this year.