In Memory of Professor Petr Viktorovitch Morozov

Abstract

In this obituary paper, we want to commemorate our dear colleague Professor Petr V. Morozov, who passed away on 17th July 2022. The death of professor Morozov is a great loss for the professional community. He was a world famous expert in psychiatry and held numerous top positions in professional associations: Secretary General of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), vice-President of the Russian Society of Psychiatrists, an ECNP ambassador in Russia, an expert of the Council of Europe, a member of the Council of the European Psychiatric Association, a curator of the WPA-Servier Academy for young scientists, to name but a few recent positions.

Full Text

Professor Petr Viktorovitch Morozov December 9, 1946 – July 17, 2022

Professor Morozov was an outstanding person, and in this obituary, our wish has been to let his unique personality transpire. We believe that the best way to do it is to collect personal stories from people who knew him and worked closely with him. After all, we are but the perception of us by others and we are alive through the personal memories of people who know us.

We asked members of the journal’s editorial board, people who worked with professor Morozov, young psychiatrists and his children to send us their stories. We hope that these memories will restore at least some traits of professor Morozov and his deeds.

George Kostyuk

Dr. Sci (Med.), Professor, Director of Mental-health Clinic No. 1 named after N.A. Alexeev, Editor-in-Chief, Consortium Psychiatricum, Moscow, Russia

My professional career in Moscow started at the Gannushkin Hospital. Petr Viktorovitch, who was a great fan of Gannushkin, and I bonded over our admiration for this outstanding Russian psychiatrist, and, eventually, we became friends. Back then, I was in charge of arranging various materials and items scattered over the hospital into a museum. And Petr Viktorovitch joined in with his usual enthusiasm when the task was genuinely interesting for him. He used materials from his personal archives. Our great efforts were rewarded, and we managed to set up a museum in the Gannushkin Hospital, among other things. We won the contract with the Russian Ministry of Culture for making a documentary about Petr Borisovitch Gannushkin. I asked Petr Viktorovitch to be a chief consultant for the film, and he agreed. I still have the fondest memories of our collaboration.

I was admiring his knowing so many things about Professor Gannushkin, his attention to detail, and, above all, I suppose, his sincere affection for this personality. If he loved someone, he was genuinely committed to this person. Later, Petr Viktorovitch changed the title of his journal to “the Gannushkin Journal”. Our admiration and respect for Petr Borisovitch Gannushkin was the core motif of our communication and our relationship, something that connected us. This is but a single piece of the puzzle, of course. After that, there were years and years of interaction and cooperation in various areas, but the first memories and impressions are the most vivid, and in this case, my first acquaintance with Petr Viktorovitch was linked to Petr Borisovitch Gannushkin.

He inherited this reverence (in the best sense of the word) for Professor Gannushkin from his father — Viktor Mikhailovitch Morozov. He was indirectly one of Gannushkin’s students — he was allowed to attend his lectures.

I have always been fascinated by Petr Viktorovitch’s attitude to his father and how he managed to instill the same affection for their grandfather into his children.

The fact is that Viktor Mikhailovitch’s professional career was mostly connected with the Alexeev Hospital. Back then, it was still named after Petr Petrovitch Kashchenko. Therefore, as a child, Petr Viktorovitch had to spend a lot of time there, too. Studying at the Second Medical Institute was also associated with this hospital, and his subsequent professional development wouldn’t be complete without the work at the Kashchenko Hospital. So, Petr Viktorovitch suggested that we should have a bas-relief portrait of Viktor Mikhailovich on the wall of the hospital. He ordered it at his own expense. And every year on October 29, on the day of Viktor Mikhailovitch’s birthday, Petr Viktorovitch and his children brought fresh flowers to the memorial plaque. I am sure this tradition will go on.

Petr Morozov, George Kostyuk, Anna Morozova and Denis Morozov © Press service of the Mental-health Clinic No. 1 named after N.A. Alekseev

Respect for teachers and parents who were mentors both in mastering this life and profession was another wonderful trait of Petr Viktorovitch, a true role model for the younger generation of psychiatrists who worked next to him. I believe, Petr Viktorovitch’s great social skills and kind heart were the best inspiration for younger doctors to adopt his philosophy.

Anatoly Smulevich

Dr. Sci (Med.), Professor, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Head of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychosomatics of Sechenov University, Moscow, Russia

IN MEMORY OF PETR VIKTOROVITCH MOROZOV

Petr Viktorovitch Morozov comes from a very talented family. His grandfather and father were members of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences and had a profound influence on several generations of doctors.

It is hard to overestimate Petr Viktorovitch’s contribution to the development of the community of psychiatrists, and psychiatry writ large, as a system both inside and outside Russia.

Petr Viktorovitch Morozov was Vice-President of the Russian Society of Psychiatrists, Secretary General of the World Psychiatric Association, Professor at the Department of Psychiatry of the Faculty of Continuing Professional Education of N.I. Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University and Professor at the Department of Psychiatry of the Federal State Budgetary Institution of Continuing Professional Education Central State Medical Academy.

He implemented many of his initiatives through ambitious projects that brought together experts of various generations, key opinion leaders, and early-career specialists.

But I would like to expand on the most captivating side of Petr Viktorovitch’s life — publishing, at which he was unquestionably good. He knew the limits of online and print publishing. Where he could not make a difference as a psychiatrist, he acted as a publisher, editor, and author.

Petr Viktorovitch was the Founder and Editor-in-chief of P.B. Gannushkin Journal of Psychiatry and Psychopharmacotherapy and the Psychiatrist’s Diary newspaper that covered both scientific and social problems. Each issue of the journal covered the most recent developments in the field, which were given proper analysis and criticism. One could always find in the journal solid articles on controversial issues and a wide spectrum of topics that promoted debate in the psychiatrist community. Petr Viktorovitch helped us — in word and in deed — to start the Psychiatric Disorders in General Medicine journal. Besides purely scientific periodicals, he also managed popular scientific ones, including Psychiatrist’s Diary. It is crucial that his pet projects pass to an intelligent and caring manager who will respect the mission that has been established to date.

Petr Viktorovitch authored ten monographs, 250 publications in Russian and foreign journals, and was among the authors of several editions (2009 to 2018) of the National Psychiatric Guidelines.

Being a recognized expert in the history of Russian and international psychiatry, he worked as an editor on the Anthology of Selected Papers by Russian Psychiatrists and wrote the monograph Titans of the Psychiatry of the 20th Century. A number of publications by Petr Viktorovitch Morozov dwell on the scientific life of some noted Russian (V.Kh. Kandinsky, V.P. Serbsky, P.B. Gannushkin, V.M. Morozov, etc.) and foreign (Karl Bonhoeffer, Oswald Bumke, Pierre Deniker, etc.) psychiatrists.

The P.B. Gannushkin Journal of Psychiatry and Psychopharmacotherapy issue 1, volume 24, 2022

In his clinical psychiatry research, Petr Viktorovitch focused on some of the most complex and pivotal problems of psychopathology and nosological categorisation of mental illnesses. Those papers include Clinical and Follow-up Study of Juvenile Schizophrenia Combined with Body Dysmorphic Disorder, History and Clinical Description of the Kandinsky–Clérambault Syndrome, and Diagnosis and Therapy of Bipolar Disorder and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.

Some other works by Petr Viktorovitch Morozov explore the problematics of mental illness classification, the way cultural factors influence such classifications, the organization of psychiatric care, mental illness prevention, and ethical aspects of psychiatry.

His studies in psychopharmacology and pharmacotherapy are summarized in the monographs Practical Psychopharmacology of Mental Illnesses (2021) and Modern Psychotropic Medicines Used in Psychiatry (2022). A number of other publications examine the development of treatment methods for psychiatric disorders and conditions (like schizophrenia, affective, psychosomatic, anxiety, phobic, obsessive-compulsive disorders, etc.) and topical problems of psychotropic drugs administration and use including patient compliance, the benefits of early therapy, and the use of sustained release dosage forms.

A considerable number of the latest articles written by Professor Morozov explore such topical issues as the incidence, clinical description, and psychopharmacology of mental disorders associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, while giving priority to the psychopathological typology of neuropsychiatric complications that make up the post-COVID syndrome, as well as the ways to relieve them.

There is little doubt that, in due time, Petr Viktorovitch Morozov’s work will assume its deserved position in Russian psychiatry. Petr Viktorovitch will always be remembered by people who personally knew him, his friends and colleagues, as one of our most brilliant, intelligent, and knowledgeable minds, as someone who could retain his poise even in the most difficult situation, as a kind-hearted and caring person, as a man of great moral integrity one could always rely on, as someone who was always there ready to lend support.

Michel Botbol

WPA Secretary for Scientific Publications, Professor Emeritus of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Western Brittany, Brest, France

À “NOTRE AMI” PETR MOROZOV

It is difficult for a French psychiatrist to think of Russian Psychiatry without immediately conjuring the image of Petr Morozov, the elegant way he spoke our language and his rare ability to understand, beyond words, the singularities of our way of thinking our field. It is therefore difficult for us to imagine that this man is no longer with us and that we will no longer have the pleasure of seeing him in important moments of our history he used to accompany with his friendly presence.

I first met him on the occasion of the first Moscow congress of the Psychiatric Association of Eastern Europe and the Balkans (PAEEB) where he came particularly to meet our common friend, Juan Mezzich, then president of the WPA. He was preceded by his remarquable reputation since Juan detailed to me the remarquable way in which Petr had maneuvered to obtain the re-enrollment of the Russian Society of Psychitrists Association as a full member of the WPA, some years after its resignation in 1977. This action was crucial to accompany the necessary reforms of psychiatry which political changes made possible in his country. It was, indeed, a very important issue to the psychiatrists of my generation, who saw it as a moment when the particular history of psychiatry (and of WPA) met the Great Global History and its strong influence in the life of many of us.

I had then, on several occasions, and in different places, the opportunity to appreciate not only his affability and human qualities but also his wisdom and great sense of moderation, giving clues on how he was so efficient in this historic action and was able to disarm those who made a point of obstructing it for one reason or another.

I also appreciated deeply his resources in the WPA board on which we sat together for several years as zonal representatives of our respective regions.

Like many of my French-speaking colleagues, I also had the opportunity to marvel at his competencies and encyclopedic knowledge of the history of psychiatry and its evolution, not only in Russia and France, but in other regions of the world.

It is therefore quite natural that the esteem Petr had earned among French psychiatrists led them to a rare unanimity when it came to supporting his candidacy for the WPA EC. I had the pleasure of working again with him, albeit briefly, when he became the efficient Secretary General of that Association, a task in which I witnessed his complete devotion. Words cannot fully express the impression his gentle manners and his always positive attitudes left in the EC members.

Picture from a meeting in 1988 showing Petr Morozov with Professor N. Bohacek (Zagreb), Professor Shen Yu Tsun (Beijing), Dr Leonid Prilipko (at that time in Geneva), Dr Costas Stefanis (Athens), P. Chanoit (Paris) and Dr Marat Vartanian (Moscow) © Photo from personal archive of Professor Norman Sartorius

I would like to offer my most sincere condolences to his family, and in particular to his son Denys, who is also a French speaker. In my name and on behalf of the French psychiatric associations which have asked me to do so, I would like to express, as well, my sincere condolences to our colleagues in Russia (and in the WPA Eastern Europe zone he represented so efficiently), who, I know, have been deeply affected by the loss of Petr and have to endure this ordeal at such a difficult time for all of us.

Nikolay Bokhan

Dr. Sci (Med.), Professor, Academician of the Russian Academy of Science, Director of the Mental Health Research Institute of the Tomsk National Research Medical Center, Tomsk, Russia

Irina Kupriyanova

Dr. Sci (Med.), Professor, Lead Researcher, Borderline States, Department Mental Health Research Institute of the Tomsk National Research Medical Center, Tomsk, Russia

P. V. MOROZOV: IN MEMORY OF SIBERIAN PSYCHIATRISTS

Petr Viktorovitch Morozov… a man who radiated so much warmth and elicited positive emotions. He was valued by those around him for his many talents, abiding sense of friendship, and genuine spirit of fairness. The pursuit of multiple interests was not a waste of his energy, but, rather, a means for enriching himself. Whatever he did, whatever he took up, he strove for perfection, was utterly demanding, first and foremost, of himself. He has always been at the forefront of developments in Russian biological psychiatry , psychopharmacological research, and he was at the origin of new media projects in psychiatry. He had a passion for transcultural psychiatry.

A great friendship united Petr Viktorovitch and the community of Siberian scientists, not only psychiatrists but even cardiologists, pharmacologists, and genetic scientists, whose shared interest in science was their common bond, in addition to warm human relations. Transcultural psychiatry was an area of “exciting contacts.” Tomsk scientists at the Mental Health Research Institute of the Tomsk National Research Medical Center founded the International Association of Ethnopsychologists and Ethnopsychotherapists, which became an affiliate member of the World Psychiatric Association and the World Association of Cultural Psychiatry. The school of “Ethnopsychiatry” was founded in the structure of the Russian Society of Psychiatrists. To optimize its transcultural focus, Petr Viktorovitch put the main emphasis on the educational module.

Thanks to the close ties he developed with peers abroad, conferences and workshops by leading world scientists such as Marianne Kastrup (Denmark), Renato Alarcon (U.S.) were often held in Russia. Undoubtedly, such success was made possible by work he did at the Department of Mental Health of the WHO and his excellent command of many European languages. He deserves a great deal of credit for the development of the processes of integration in the transcultural research carried out in Belarus, Ukraine, the Republics of Transcaucasia, and Central Asia. Symposia with the participation of scientists from the former Soviet republics commanded great attention from participants at the congresses of the World Psychiatric Association. A huge breakthrough in the integration of Russian and Western psychiatry was the publication of the journal World Psychiatry, which was published under the editorship of former WPA President Mario May and Petr Morozov.

As Vice President of the Russian Society of Psychiatrists, P.V. Morozov took part in the development and implementation of international transcultural projects between the Russian Society of Psychiatrists and foreign psychiatric associations. No less fruitful amongst his activities was his work as a member of the Board and Representative of the World Psychiatric Association for Eastern Europe. The intelligence, erudition, aristocratism, and amazing work ethic of Petr Victorovich earned him deserved respect among his foreign colleagues and helped transform how Russian scientists are viewed. Formal scientific interests quickly developed into amazing friendships that lasted for decades. President of the European Psychiatric Association Danuta Wasserman (Sweden) enjoyed discussing topical issues of psychiatry with Petr Morozov in her native Polish. Foreign colleagues entrusted Peter Victorovich with very responsible posts: Ambassador of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology in Russia and Secretary General of the World Psychiatric Association.

Picture of the staff of the WHO Division of Mental Health showing staff including P.V. Morozov, 1985 © Photo from personal archive of Professor Norman Sartorius

Another important facet of his work was the search for young talents, future “stars,” especially at regional universities. He was a regular participant in the schools for young psychiatrists in Suzdal. Many young psychiatrists, thanks to the magical influence of P.V. Morozov, dared to dream about a scientific career and began studying foreign languages.

There are people whose humanitarianism and passion influence the circulation and development of new orbits of human life on Earth. Their boundless energy, thirst for knowledge, and inexhaustible creativity make every one of us better and willing to push forward toward new achievements.

That was Petr MOROZOV — POET, MUSICIAN, SCIENTIST, and CITIZEN OF THE WORLD.

Egor Chumakov

PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Addiction, Secretary of the Commission of the Russian Society of Psychiatrists for Work with Young Researchers and Specialists, Saint Petersburg, Russia

It’s hard to find someone who, having personally known Petr Viktorovitch Morozov, couldn’t remember a single interesting or inspiring story about him. I’d like to tell you a story both about Petr Viktorovitch’s international professional career and the role he played in the development of young psychiatrists in Russia and in the wider world.

The organizers of the19th World Congress of Psychiatry invited me in 2019 to take part in a new learning session on complex cases that psychiatrists often confront at the early stages of their careers. The goal was to give young psychiatrists an opportunity to present a case that could capture the interest of an international audience, to have an in-depth discussion, and share their unique regional experience. Over all, there were four such sessions on the agenda — for delegates from different countries. Professor Morozov was invited as a guest expert representing Russia, and I was fortunate that he had agreed to support my nomination as a speaker.

Petr Morozov and Egor Chumakov © Photo from personal archive of Egor Chumakov

The preparation for the session was nerve-racking. It was a completely new experience for me, as I had to speak not as a researcher but as a clinician at an international convention. But Petr Viktorovitch was there for me, and he supported me each step along the way. He gave me valuable advice and highlighted terminology peculiarities. We spent a lot of time talking on the phone and choosing a case that, on the one hand, could showcase a topical problem of clinical psychiatry that was comprehensible to an international audience and, on the other hand, could demonstrate the Russian clinical mindset and approach to diagnosing psychiatric disorders and conditions. We chose the case of a young girl with pronounced self-injurious behavior who was being treated at the day hospital of a Saint Petersburg clinic, and we needed to carry out a differential diagnosis between a schizophrenia spectrum disorder, an affective disorder, and a borderline personality disorder. Petr Viktorovitch proved right in his choice, of course, as the case provoked a huge discussion. When the session was over, psychiatrists from Australia, Canada, Tunisia, and other countries approached me and made suggestions for further diagnostic developments and treatment tactics.

However, what I remember most vividly was the comments Petr Viktorovitch was anticipated to make as an experienced psychiatrist. He rocked the audience! His input was so powerful that it would have been good enough even for a plenary session. His short lecture covered historical and cultural aspects, classical psychopathology, the dynamics of mental disorders, and the difficulties psychiatrists encounter when trying to diagnose disorders that manifest themselves at adolescent and young-adult age. It was unfortunate that no remote participation was possible back then and that so few people (compared to the overall professional community) ended up hearing that speech. The session was positively welcomed and was added on the agendas of World Psychiatric Association annual congresses as a regular event. I am happy that that happened not without Petr Viktorovitch’s and my contribution.

That speech and the feedback I got provided the impulse and direction in my further professional development and a new understanding of how to fathom the mechanisms that underly the formation of personality disorders. The feedback I got form the experts and participants of the session also gave me a different perspective on psychiatric disorder diagnosis and helped me better understand the way my colleagues from the rest of the world thought. I am immensely grateful to Petr Viktorovitch for this priceless experience I was lucky to share with him.

Alexey Pavlichenko

PhD, Senior lecturer, Education Center, Mental Health Clinic No.1 named after N.A. Alexeev, Moscow, Russia

I first met Petr Viktorovitch in 2010, when I was seeking to have my article published in his journal — P.B. Gannushkin Journal of Psychiatry and Psychopharmacotherapy. The article meant a lot to me, and the journal was, deservedly, the most popular among Russian psychiatrists. Judging by my experience of other journals, I expected the whole process to take a lot of time. Imagine my surprise when in two or three days I received a phone call from none other than Petr Viktorovitch! It took us an hour to discuss the details, and the article was published in a month and a half. Ever since, we have kept close contact with each other.

When I met him in person, I immediately felt as if I had known him for years and that I was talking to a person of my own age, despite the thirty-year age gap that separated us. His ability both to make others feel comfortable around him and to treat others with respect no matter their age, ethnic origin, or education was a central feature of his personality that psychiatrists from all over the world valued about him. Petr Viktorovitch could effortlessly start a conversation with a taxi driver in Barcelona, a guide at the Sigmund Freud Museum in Vienna, or a geneticist from Amsterdam. No matter who the interlocutor was, he showed deep command of the issues and genuine interest in the person with whom he was in conversation. Watching him, I often thought of this Christian parable that says: “A wise man sees a mentor in anyone he meets.” He didn’t like it, though, when people called him a mentor. He was completely devoid of even the slightest whiff of self-importance and was so selfless he commanded respect not for his degrees or titles but for his extensive and profound knowledge and desire to share with anyone interested. So many of the lectures he gave were unique and absolutely irreproducible. It was useless to take photos of his slides or to ask for softcopies of his presentations, as, besides important data, his lectures carried a powerful educational and humanistic message. His presentations fascinated even people outside our profession. To be honest, I also experienced something close to religious ecstasy when listening to them.

Eventually, Petr Viktorovitch brought me into the world of international psychiatry and introduced me to eminent psychiatrists from other countries. I got his thirst for new developments in psychiatry and unconditional love for knowledge he demonstrated until his last days. I remember, a few weeks before he passed away, how he called me to share his impressions of a lecture by a well-known psychiatrist from Germany, and we talked about it for hours. I often didn’t agree with him, but I knew that he respected my opinion and my position. Not once did I sense that it was useless to argue with him on any issue, as he took part in an argument only when he knew something for a fact. Having a good command of a few European languages, Petr Viktorovitch could source information from wherever he wanted on whatever aspects of psychiatry he wanted. Yet, he remained faithful to the clinical and psychopathological approach and considered the concepts that dominate psychiatry today to be a manifestation of reductionism, or, as he put it, “McDonald’s psychiatry.” On the one hand, I was a little bewildered by this outdated position, as I saw it. On the other hand, as a doctor and professor, I see more and more evidence that it is this approach that gives practitioners clear guidelines and is crucial to the training process.

I never figured out what his real passion was — psychiatry or fine arts? I suspect that Petr Viktorovitch couldn’t answer this question himself. As for me, I could discern a true artist in his brilliant lectures, unique projects, and wonderful books about the great psychiatrists of the past. And I am so grateful to have met this outstanding man. I am sure, for everyone who was in close contact with him, there was a version of Petr Viktorovitch they could call “my person.” With his death, we all have lost a dear friend — a “my person.”

Tatyana Klyushnik

Professor, Director of Scientific Institution “Mental Health Research Centre”, Moscow, Russia

PETR VIKTOROVITCH MOROZOV — THE MAN I KNEW AND REMEMBER

I first met Petr Viktorovitch when he was a sixth-year student at the Second Moscow State Medical Institute named after N.I. Pirogov. His musical ensemble “Kamerton” was on stage performing at the Matriculation Ceremony Afterparty, and he sang his wonderful songs. We were the freshmen – still young and shy – for whom this induction ceremony was arranged. One just couldn’t take their eyes off these talented and charming “Kamerton” guys, they were full of energy and shared this energy with us. We felt so proud to be part of the university knowing that it nurtures not only medical talents. The vivid image of Petr Viktorovitch with his guitar in his hands was then refreshed several times: I encountered him singing his new and old songs at Workshops for Young Psychiatrists and conference afterparties. Some of them were very sad.

Petr Viktorovitch was a man of many talents, who never treated any task to which he had committed himself formalistically and went out of his way to help colleagues. The lectures and presentations he delivered at conferences, though strictly psychiatric, were always translating his love for and great knowledge of literature, music, theatre, and history. He managed to kindle genuine interest in the problems he discussed, and the time given for the presentation was never enough for him.

Music band (VIA) Kamerton, 1970 © Photo from www.rock-book.ru

Petr Viktorovitch was always kind and friendly. I admired his unique social skills, his talent for communicating and interacting with people of various ages, social statuses, and interests, and his rare ability to keep a level head when dealing with complicated issues. I will always remember his trademark sense of humor, easygoing manner, and the subtle self-deprication of a true intellectual.

Music band (VIA) Kamerton, 2015. Presentation of the album "No one can stole our youth" © Photo from personal archive

Olga Karpenko

PhD, Head of Scientific collaborations Department in Mental-health Clinic No.1 named after N.A. Alexeev, Chair of Preventive psychiatry Section of World Psychiatric Association, Moscow, Russia

It turns out that I have known Petr Viktorovitch Morozov since I was a child before I met him in person. My father was a psychiatrist, and he fondly remembered Suzdal Schools — conferences for early-career psychiatrists that were like a breath of fresh air, an island of freedom in the stagnation of the 80s in the Soviet Union. There, they could discuss One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest movie, legendary but still not very allowed at that time rock band Aquarium was invited to play a concert there, at the same time that famous psychiatrists like Pierre Deniker could come there as guests. It was a place where respected professors and young psychiatrists interacted as equals. My father told these stories with great passion, and I got the impression that psychiatrists were guys who knew how to have a good time.

Many years later, when I became a psychiatrist myself, the idea of reviving the Suzdal Schools re-emerged and I joined the project with great enthusiasm. At first, Petr Viktorovitch helped to set up the Schools remotely – he gave advice on the scientific program, on how to create an informal atmosphere, and how to design a cultural program. I had yet to meet him in person at that time, and still I was fascinated with the man when I realized that the legendary atmosphere of the old Suzdal Schools was his creation. I was curious to know him in person but the opportunity had not yet presented itself.

Once, I was asked by senior colleagues to drive Petr Viktorovitch to one of the meetings and I thought: Finally, I am going to meet him! We talked by phone and he very politely declined. As he said, his manners do not allow him to make a lady drive him around. This surprising turn of events left me with mixed emotions – I was disappointed that our meeting didn`t happen, and at the same time I was charmed by his gentlemanly manners. I found out later that Petr Viktorovitch always behaved like a gentleman, never compromising that side of his personality.

Boris Grebenshchikov (Aquarium), Petr Morozov, Andrei "Dyusha" Romanov (Aquarium), Suzdal, 1988 © Photo from personal archive

Petr Morozov and Former USSR Republics’ KVN Team, Suzdal School, 2011 © Photo from personal archive of Olga Karpenko

We did meet eventually and even became friends later. In 2011, Petr Viktorovitch attended the Suzdal School in person and, among other things, suggested a new idea for the cultural program– that we hold a local KVN¹ competition. We managed to do it, and Petr Viktorovitch came up to me to introduce himself when he found out that I was the author of the winning team’s script.

We have kept in touch since. Petr Viktorovitch invited me to take part in various scientific activities as well, but creativity was the main topic of our communication. Before each Suzdal School Petr Viktorovitch would get very inspired. He would call me to sound off his ideas trying to gauge my reaction. He discussed KVN arrangements, played the guitar, and sang songs he wanted to perform at the School.

Once, before implementing the competition on chastushkas and hokku at Suzdal School, he proposed to first test how it works on each other, like true scientists. One of us was to compose the beginning, the next one – the funny end of the poem. We got so absorbed by the game that we messaged each other lines back and forth day and night, until Petr Viktorovitch concluded that the new competition would work well and it could be translated from the “laboratory” to “practice”.

Our conversations always intermingled with his numerous stories, ideas for books, and other creative plans. I was flattered and appreciated our unique connection. He unfailingly managed to share his enthusiasm with me, to awaken my curiosity and spur my creativity. The last thing we talked about was making a KVN team that would consist of professors only to rival the young ones. Unfortunately, fate has decreed otherwise.

For the last few years, Petr Viktorovitch and I also communicated within the World Psychiatric Association (WPA). Apart from being Secretary General (him) and Chair of the Preventive psychiatry section (me), we were members of the WPA working groups. Because of this, I had a chance to observe how he behaved during meetings and to learn diplomacy from him. I could always ask him for advice in a complicated situation and his advice was always very pragmatic and wise. I saw how he cared about Russian psychiatry, and how important it was for him to cement a place for Russian psychiatry on the international arena. I also witnessed what a heavy lift that effort represented.

Not long before his death, Petr Viktorovitch sent me a birthday card. He wished me to always find joy in the things that I am doing. And, I guess, this was the clue to his success, charisma, and fruitful professional life – he did what he really loved... and he helped many of us taste the fun side of psychiatry.

Sergei Potanin

PhD, Chair of the Council of Young Scientists of the Russian Society of Psychiatrists, Senior Research Fellow at the laboratory of the psychopharmacology, Scientific Institution “Mental Health Research Centre”, Moscow, Russia

Petr Viktorovitch was always attentive to beginner psychiatrists. It was he who labored hard for the establishment of the Suzdal School, where a lot of my colleagues and I began to come to grips with the modern vision of how psychiatry, as a science, was developing, meeting interesting people, and participating in various projects along the way. The international prominence of Petr Viktorovitch made it possible for us to attract prominent foreigners as speakers to the Russian Federation, to whom we could not only listen, but also talk in an informal setting, which is not always possible when you are but a fledgeling scientist. I feel obliged to mention what a wonderful, open-hearted, friendly, supportive, and cooperative individual Petr Viktorovitch was. I especially value his role-model approach to personal creativity development; how he never fixated exclusively on science or medical practice.

I used to be sceptical of all sorts of college plays, Kapustniks, local KVN shows, or other similar amateur comic performances, long before taking up psychiatry but still during my study at a psychotherapy institute. All that seemed futile, distracting from my principal preoccupation, and even ridiculous. Gradually, though, the KVN shows in Suzdal, whose most ardent promoter Petr Viktorovitch was, began to grow on me. When I saw him on stage and learned more about this creative side of his life, I decided to take the leap, too, and discovered a whole new perspective on creativity as a very important part of self-development.

I hope that we – as young scientists – will do our best to continue Petr Viktorovitch’s lifework and projects, and always remember this wonderful man and outstanding scientist.

Yuri Osadshi

Vice President for Regional Affairs, Russian Early Career Psychiatrist’s Council, Volgograd, Russia

I first met Petr Viktorovitch nine years ago when I attended the WPA Congress in Armenia. I was an ordinary psychiatrist from Volgograd who knew no one at the event and was immensely happy to see a kind-looking mustachioed man with a “Petr Morozov Russia” badge on his jacket. I approached him and said: “Hello, I am from Volgograd! And I want to develop psychiatry.” Petr Viktorovitch smiled. That evening, he introduced me nearly to all members of the WPA Executive Committee, as if I were an old acquaintance of his.

He had the talent of instilling confidence and the feeling that he was “your person.” He belonged both among the younger and the older generations. He managed to keep a balance between creativity and traditions, creativity and science, and work and leisure. He happily combined in himself the Renaissance and rock and roll. Petr Viktorovitch knew how to enliven the older generation, how not to let it get rusty and caught in the web of rationality. He tried to convey the importance of traditions and adherence to school customs to the youth. He explained and demonstrated to me how important it was for a psychiatrist to be a well-rounded person, as science alone – without a cultural, linguistic, philosophic, and historic background – cannot provide answers to all our questions.

In welcoming and supporting innovation, he taught us to protect what had been achieved and placed emphasis on the impossibility of a wholesale systematization of such a complex field of knowledge as psychiatry, and that, as doctors, we needed to see beyond symptoms. We must see the person.

I am — and will always be — indebted to Petr Viktorovitch!

Daria Smirnova

MD, PhD, Director of the International Centre for Education and Research in Neuropsychiatry, Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Narcology and Psychotherapy, Samara State Medical University, Samara, Russia

(…)

You merely left for some warmer countries,

By the great seas.

(…)

I see you, I feel you, I sense your presense wherever I go.

— Those mourning ribbons, that wreath on your head mean nothing to me —

I haven’t forgotten you, and I will remember you

Forevermore!

Such promises I know are pointless,

I know the vanity.

— A letter to infinity. — A letter

To eternity —

A letter into the void.

Marina Tsvetaeva,

“Falling leaves over your grave...”

Dear Petr Viktorovitch!

TRUST IN HUMANKIND. FAITH. HUMANITY

I’ve finished your book you sent me in May. Thank you so much! “Well, finally, you’ve started believing it too. And I’ve started believing in you. And believing in that we should do our best to finish whatever unfinished deed we have here, not to return... from the beyond. That’s what we were talking about... about pansies, as well. Anna is smiling, her eyes welling up.” (The age is out of joint, P.V. Morozov, 2022, p 87) It has always fascinated me how he could find precise, profound and meaningful words. How do you do that?! Unfailingly making me believe you, at that. You were right so many times. Even when I chose to ignore your guidance and do something my way, you turned out to be right again. Your fatherly advice about life – not frequent, but to the point – was always useful. And again, you were right. I’ve learned my lesson. I’m still consulting with you on all kinds of things even when you don’t call me. I am so grateful to you for believing in me when I doubt my own abilities, when I don’t believe in myself.

– Dear Petr Viktorovitch, I haven’t completed our book chapter yet, but I promise I will do as soon as possible. I am almost done but my routine work keeps interfering. The chapter is undoubtedly the key priority, but I still don’t have enough time. Working on the computer 24/7.

– Dear, dear Dasha, I never asked you about the chapter! It’s ok. I’m calling you to talk about an absolutely different issue. I need your advice. Keep writing it whenever you have the time. It’s all right. I’ve never doubted your commitment. (Your laughter is heart-warming, and I feel relieved.)

In your book, Anna’s eyes are welling up, in this book — the book which mentions the crossings of our lifelines, I am the one whose eyes are filled with tears. Timur Syunyakov brougnt you the lavender flowers and the note from me. He later told me: “P.V. gave you a wink and a smile, and told you not to be sad, but to act. Anna and Denis agreed. Don’t be sad, do act.” Ok, I got it. I’ll keep on working. I keep on working.

OVERLOADED WITH WORK. STREAM OF IDEAS. HORIZONS

In this age which is out of joint, we all are in the same international and borderless boat of humanity. I’m looking forward to our new meetings – in Suzdal, Barcelona, Berlin, Nice, Buenos Aires, Munich, Antalya, and everyplace – and long conversations in halls when, despite the late hour and drowsiness, you can’t help but stay and keep listening. This is knowledge you won’t be able to acquire via reading books or attending classes. Knowledge that manifests itself like a fresh and cool breeze, touches your forehead, wakes you up and dissolves in the talking, sighing, nodding, smiling, wondering and pondering. “You know, it’s...” And you start your riveting story I can’t stop listening to.

We started collaborating with the Early-Carrer Psychiatrists’ Council of the Russian Society of Psychiatrists in 2010. You say: “I send her an e-mail at 3 a.m. thinking she’ll read it in the morning. But she replies in 15 minutes. That’s how we work.” Professor Haim Belmaker’s training course in Israel Timur Syunyakov and I attended, meeting Professor Assen Jablensky in Suzdal, receiving a grant for a scientific project in Australia... New horizons opened up just like that when you took part as an angel in my life project, as if with the wave of a magic wand. And this tsunami of work that started in 2010 – lectures, seminars, symposiums, congresses, articles, chapters, discussions – was impossible to stop. Unstoppable. More and more publications we’ve worked on as coauthors united by our mutual inspiration are on their way. We do continue, we act.

KINDNESS. LOVE. TIMELESS VALUES

You ask me: “Answer this question. Which is more important? To be kind or to be smart? Which would you choose?” I say, laughing: “I must be not very smart but I would no doubt prefer to be kind. I wish I never crossed paths with an evil genius.” “We are on the same page here,” you tell me.

I look at your phone with your daughter Anna’s photo as a screensaver and listen to you speaking about your family, your son Denis, how much you need more time to be able to teach English to your granddaughter who’s running around and up to your desk, and how much more needs to be done in collaboration with the World Psychiatric Association. You must be a little dissatisfied with something, that’s why you keep creating, improving, protecting, thoroughly painting your own inimitable era, your own golden age, full of achievements and events, loyalty to ideas and integrity.

As if in a strange dream, I get a phone call from London from Professor Afzal Javed: “I can’t believe it. I loved him so much. It’s a personal loss to me. We’ve been discussing so many things with him. Peter was like a brother to me.” “And like a father to me. We all love him so much,” I said feeling unbearable pain in my heart.

I wake up to check my e-mail. In your letter, everything is as usual, including the valediction – “With sympathy, P.V.” Next to the photo of “senior advisor, Professor Petr Morozov” in the Our Team section on the official website of the International Centre for Education and Research in Neuropsychiatry we place “Dear Prof. Peter, you are always with us! We love you forever.” It is true now and will always be true.

The last page of your book says: “The song ‘Where is the happiness?’ starts playing. To the right... in his shadow, a dim outline of something is faintly visible. Or is it just our imagination running riot?

A perfect moment for the closing credits.

30 August 2019 / July 2020. Moscow – Nikolskoye, Petr Morozov.” (The age is out of joint, P.V. Morozov, 2022, p 87)

I am so happy to meet you, my dear teacher. Love you forever, hug you tightly, and promise we’ll meet there again.

C’est la vie. Heart beating.

Sincerely yours... ever yours,

Dasha

Denis Morozov

Medical Manager, Operations Department, Servie, Moscow, Russia

Anna Morozova

Managing Partner, CO.FACTOR, Moscow, Russia

CONVERSATIONS WITH PATRIARCH

Many years ago, a tradition was born in our family — to have family get-togethers once a week, usually on a weekday evening, only for us — parents, sister and her husband, and me. We called dad – the head of our family — Patriarch. At first, we arranged our get-togethers at our parents’ apartment. Dad loved cooking and, whenever he had the time, made something special for the occasion. Those were simple but very delicious dishes — borshch, beef steak, turkey with his trademark cranberry and lingonberry sauce, or even “stone” soup. We all looked forward to these evenings, because, for us, they meant the joy of being in each other’s company and exchanging views on various and most unexpected issues, for parents — the joy of finally seeing their children. Our dear Patriarch would both have a cozy chat with each one of us individually and take part in the general confabulation. We could converse about anything — from the DSM-5 classification system and news about the latest international congresses to what headlights should be installed in Andrey’s (my sister’s husband) new car, or what a beautiful goal they scored in the Brazilian football championship.

Later, the venue of our get-togethers gradually shifted to a small Moscow restaurant, where we all would meet after work on Tuesdays. No refusals to come because of work were accepted as legitimate, with the exception of business trips. By that time, we all had very hectic lives — dad was constantly on business trips and had to deal with a lot of information, contacts, projects, and new people. When we gathered, we absorbed each piece of news our Patriarch shared with us, discussed – even argued about what would be or have been the best way to act. Each trip and event made him think of and come up with new ideas, no matter work-, home- or hobby-related. The Suzdal School always held a special place in his heart. He put so much physical and creative effort, all his heart and soul, into it. He loved it. We could talk about it for hours, discussing all kinds of things – from organizational issues and booking rooms in the Suzdal Travel Centre to details of the scientific agenda, presentation topics, and props for contests. Dad was a fan of the younger generation and could always think of something for them to engage in.

Driving him home from a restaurant or our country house was a special pleasure when I could enjoy talking to Patriarch alone.

After Yuliana, Anna’s daughter, was born, we changed the format and the venue of our get-togethers – we now met at my house once a month on Sunday afternoons. I inherited dad’s love for cooking: therefore, Patriarch named this new activity Family Dinner. Now, Yuliana was the one who received all his attention. He played football with her, played the guitar, sang songs, read books to her and simply kept her company in her games. He could always invent something to get her attention and provoke a very vivid reaction. When she would finally fall asleep, we would resume our conversations. Since our family get-togethers were rarer now, dad was looking forward to them very much. He always brought along something new to share with us: a journal, or a book, or an article, or an interview, or a new project, or an idea for us to discuss. How he managed to handle so many projects and deal with so much information was a mystery to me. He lived life — as his song has it — “to the fullest!”

P.V. Morozov and his family © Photo from personal archive of Denis Morozov

P.V. Morozov and his family, 1985 © Photo from personal archive of Professor Norman Sartorius

We could talk about anything no matter the time. He gave us his full support and helped figure out what would be an optimum solution in all kinds of situations.

A month after the tragedy, Yuliana gave her mother a drawing and said: “Mum, give it to grandpa, please.” Anna said that she wouldn’t be able to do so anymore but the girl retorted: “Turn it upward to the sky, grandpa will see it and will be happy.” She isn’t four yet. Patriarch would have commented, as usual: “Genetics is a powerful thing.”

Sister and I continue to visit our dad and talk with him, and having conversations with him... and that will never change: ever...

DEAR DAD, OUR PATRIARCH, WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Your children