ABSTRACT
When I was invited by Parthenope Bion Talamo and Francesca Bion to give the opening lecture of the Conference on which this chapter is based, I felt not only honoured, I was also moved. I have had the privilege of meeting Bion personally, of having long conversations and exchanging letters with him. I keep a vivid and strong memory of our relationship. In her invitation, Parthenope Bion Talamo told me that her father had a sort of "fellow feeling" for me—a remark that struck me, as on my part I had a sort of filial respect for him. Another reason I was moved was that, as every one knows, I am neither a "Bionian" nor even a Kleinian. Replying with this objection, I was told that not being a disciple of Bion was in fact one of the reasons why I was invited. It seemed that, while knowing Bion's ideas, I could "use" them and remain true to my own thinking. Bion, who was probably the best example of independent thought in psychoanalysis, encouraged those who went to him to act in the same way. During my oral or written exchanges with 109Bion he never tried to "convert" me to his ideas or to Klein's. We both agreed that our greatest debt was towards Freud.
