It was during a meeting in Salzburg, on 27 April 1908, that the idea of an International Association was discussed and agreed upon. Apart from this momentous decision, the most notable event at Salzburg was Freud's presentation of the case of the Rat Man; this aroused so much interest that he was persuaded to extend it to more than four hours The next Congress was held at Nuremberg in March 1910, and it was at this Congress that the International Psychoanalytical Association was founded. Freud had first met Ferenczi only a very short time before the Salzburg Congress, but their friendship evidently ripened rapidly, and after Salzburg Freud asked Ferenczi to make proposals designed to bring analysts closer together in some kind of bond. This Ferenczi did at Nuremberg; he insisted that Jung should be President of the new Association, and that its official centre should be Zürich. Freud too thought both these proposals to be very important for several reasons. First of all, he had an extremely high opinion of Jung. For at least a year he had viewed Jung as his spiritual heir, to whom the future of psychoanalysis could most safely be entrusted. Freud also believed it to be of the utmost importance that psychoanalysis should no longer be identified in the public mind with Vienna, neither should it be regarded as something specifically Jewish. And so Jung, as a Swiss and Gentile, seemed admirably suited for the role of leader, and was elected the first President of the IPA, the central office being in Zürich, as the place of residence of the President.
During the next few years, the affairs of the IPA were managed by Jung, with Riklin as his Secretary. In June 1911, Adler resigned from the Vienna Society, together with some other members; he set up his own organization of Individual Psychology. This left Stekel to run the Zentralblatt. Freud found this unsatisfactory and eventually, in October 1912, Stekel too resigned from the Vienna Society.
...
The First World War produced a hiatus in the activities of the IPA. The purpose for which it was founded was the formation of a bond between psychoanalysts in various countries. The means to bring this about consisted in the organization of International Congresses at which scientific exchange was encouraged; the publication of a Bulletin in one form or another in which information about the activities in the various Societies could be conveyed, and the foundation of scientific journals, which eventually crystallized into two, the Internationale Zeitschrift and Imago.
... After the war, in 1920, a Congress was held at The Hague; this was more international than the Budapest Congress of 1918, and it brought together again colleagues who had been separated perforce by the war. 62 members took part. The British and Swiss Societies were formally admitted, and Jones was elected President.
...
The Congress of 1924 took place in Salzburg. It was reported that there were 263 members of the IPA, contrasting with the 22 at the first Congress. The following Congress, at Bad Homburg, was a particularly important one. Abraham presided. There was a preliminary conference to discuss training and the proposal to set up an international training organization in order to promote uniform standards. Delegates of Societies had been invited; Ferenczi was Chairman. Eitingon introduced a number of important principles. Training was not to be left to the private initiative of individuals - instead the different countries should provide training institutes, and regulations for training in these institutes should be laid down authoritatively by the IPA. The training should include "instructional analysis" and the analysis of patients under supervision. Anyone who wished to practise psychoanalysis must have completed his training before becoming a member of the IPA. It was resolved that each Branch Society must elect a Training Committee of not more than seven members, and that these committees should combine to form an International Training Board (later renamed Commission - ITC). This Board would be the central organ of the IPA for all questions concerned with psychoanalytic training. Eitingon was appointed the first President of the Training Board.
In 1951, the Sigmund Freud Archives had been incorporated in the State of New York, Kurt Eissler being Secretary. Its purpose was to collect all material relating to the biography of Freud and to his scientific interests. For many years, reports on the Archives have been made to Congress by Eissler or his deputy, often recording very important donations of letters and other material.
At the Copenhagen Congress in 1967, note was taken of the completion of the Standard Edition of Freud's Psychological Works.
...
At the Paris Congress in 1973 there was an immensely long debate on the Ritvo Report regarding training in child analysis and the status in the IPA of those who had received such training without full adult training. Finally, the Report was rejected by Congress, which meant there was no change in the status quo - only those satisfactorily trained in the analysis of adults were to be eligible for membership of the IPA. Anna Freud was created Honorary President, replacing Heinz Hartmann who had died in 1970. Miss Freud remained Honorary President from 1973 until her death in 1982.
...
Born in 1910, the IPA has now reached full maturity and is more essentially international than ever before. with next year seeing the first psychoanalytic conference to be held in China which will explore psychoanalytic evolution and change within an Asian context.
Main Sources
http://www.ipa.org.uk/Public/
