Peter Sainsbury

Peter Sainsbury

Peter Sainsbury will be remembered as a scientist of distinction and for his humanity. He was born in Horsham in Sussex in a medical family. His childhood memories are those of being very close to his nurse, whom he visited regularly in Horsham till her death. He went to a prep school and then to Stowe, where he discovered his love of English and interest in biological sciences. He read medicine at Trinity College, Cambridge, and graduated from Middlesex Hospital.

The psychological aspects of physical illnesses were fascinating to him. He served as a Royal Army Medical Corps officer and afterwards joined Bexley Psychiatric Hospital. After qualifying in psychiatry he started work at St Francis Hospital, Dulwich, where he fortuitously came across Professor Sir Aubrey Lewis, a psychiatrist of great eminence. Through this mentor he was appointed to a research post in Maudsley Hospital.

Peter’s seminal investigations of suicide in London resulted in the publication of the first Maudsley Monogram, Suicide in London, which still stands as a classic in the field. By this time he was married to Ruth, a German refugee, and had a son and a daughter. They made a lovely couple, always extending their generous hospitality.

Recognition of Peter’s talent resulted in him being appointed as director of the MRC clinical psychiatry unit in Chichester, following in the footsteps of such eminent predecessors as Professor Erwin Stengel and Professor Sir Martin Roth. Under his stewardship the unit flourished and became world famous. Not only did it continue research in the field of suicide (Brian Barraclough and D J Pallis) but it also pioneered research in diverse topics in psychiatry such as psychiatric diagnosis and marital pathology (Norman Kreitman), community psychiatry (Jaqueline Grad), and substance abuse (Richard de Alarcon), and also in neurophysiology (John Shaw and Archie Levey) and new techniques in statistical methods. Peter was also a very competent psychiatrist and was fondly remembered by many a patient after his retirement.

Peter was also an adviser to the World Health Organization and was active with this organisation, even after the closure of the unit in 1982, reviewing trends in suicides in Europe. He was a member of the neurosciences board of the Medical Research Council, adviser to the Mental Health Research Fund, chairman of the research and clinical section of the Royal Medico-Psychological Association (now the Royal College of Psychiatrists), and vice president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and he held many other distinguished positions.

Peter’s concerns about human suffering and injustices well qualified him to lead the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ first special committee on political abuse of psychiatry.

Peter was unassuming, courteous, and a warm friend. Those he and Ruth befriended remained lifelong friends. He and Ruth survived a great tragedy in their life—the murder of their only and beloved daughter. But he is survived not only by Ruth but also by his son and loving grandchildren. I was privileged to have known the Sainsburys for over 40 years. [Raj Rathod]