Dear Friends,

We would like to dedicate this congress to the memory of our friend and our colleague, Gianfranco Cecchin, whose untimely death shocked us all.

Gianfranco was killed Sunday night, February 1st, in a car accident outside of Milano. One of the original four psychiatrists who formed what became worldwide as the Milan team, Gianfranco, together with Luigi Boscolo, continued his contribution to the field of family therapy for many years, influencing the minds and hearts of thousands of students and colleagues around the world.

Gianfranco was an original thinker, whose keen, bright mind helped expand the minds of all who came into contact with him. The famous concepts of paradox and counter-paradox were as much a part of his personality as a part of the theory he taught. He was forever finding new – and often unorthodox – ways of looking at the family and at the world, and his powers of observation were used to find quirky and brilliant new angels in every situation.

There were no holy cows for Gianfranco, and he refused to be boxed into convention. With his infectious laughter, Gianfranco poked fun at the absurdity of life, always ready with a controversial remark that would often get him into trouble with one group or another.

He was fun loving, kind and blessed with a child like curiosity about the world and everything in it. He had an enviable capacity for transcending power politics in favor of self-reflection.

We feel privileged to have been his friends and colleagues for the past many years, and are thankful for the richness he added to our lives and the lives of many who knew him.

He will be greatly missed.

You are invited to commemorate and Gianfranco's life with us at our congress in Istanbul