On Thursday 31st of January we received the very sad news that our dear friend and colleague Bernard Glicksman had passed away the day before in Oslo.
It was such a shock to us all here at the museum because Bernard always seemed so full of life and took such an interest in so many things. Bernard began volunteering here in March 2016, and over the last 3 years he became a crucial member of our team, helping out with the Front of House and also writing and delivering a series of very erudite and popular public talks.
Bernard was extremely well-read and intelligent, yet he always wore his learning lightly, and his studiousness was tempered by an impish sense of humour.
Bernard was also a very humble man who had a curiosity about the world and a concern for other people which made him a delight to work with, whether in delivering a talk to a group of fascinated visitors, or over a glass of wine whilst discussing Freud’s ‘Dora’ case at our Freud Museum reading group.
To judge by the number of people who attended his funeral it is clear that the Freud Museum was just one small part of Bernard’s life, and that there were a great many people who were touched by his warm, kind and approachable manner.
We will all miss him very dearly, and our thoughts go out to his sister Barbara and his family and friends.
Comments
Bernie was a dear friend from around 1973.
He was a wonderful friend and a deaply sincere, ethical person.
There are not many like him in the world.
יהי זכרו ברוך
Bernard was the most tremendous support to me as a fellow volunteer at the Museum. He was unfailingly generous with his time, and his enthusiasm was infectious and uplifting. I will miss him enormously.
Laura.
I was very moved by your obituary of Bernard Glcksman. Bernie was a close friend from our student days. He was a great oboist and a devoted and highly-informed music-lover. He had just completed an MA dissertation on Strauss’ Elektra and I saw it performed just after learning that he had passed away. i will never forget the closing lines: “What is that music I hear? It comes from within me …”
i have always enjoyed my visits to the Freud Museum and I wish you continued success.
Tuesday he couldn’t come to our degree ceremony because we discovered he passed away a few months ago, that’s why he didn’t reply to my last email. Last time I saw him we had a Christmas dinner at my, then he traveled to Norway, where he died. He was a brilliant mind and a funny spirit, a lawyer who loved literature, the best guide of the Freud Museum in London, a friend, the best classmate in these 2 years.
Bernard and I met when we were in the same French class at the Alliance Française. We subsequently met up on visits to Paris and Bernard came to “neighbours gatherings” at our flat in West Hampstead (he lived close enough to count as a neighbour!). What a lovely guy. I will miss him.
I was very sorry to hear that Freud Museum guide Bernard Glicksman had died last year. We met at the Alliance Française de Londres in the early 2000s and kept in touch over the years, meeting mainly in Paris but also in London and Oslo. Many happy evenings of food, drink and conversation were had – occasionally even en français! Bernard was a lovely, gentle person. It is very sad news.