Prominent psychoanalyst Estela Ruiz Milán dies at 92

Estela Ruiz Milán, a distinguished psychoanalyst and a significant intellectual figure in Mexico, has passed away at the age of 92. Sources close to her family confirmed her death, marking the end of a career that spanned six decades and left an indelible mark on the field of psychoanalysis and beyond.

Born in Mérida in 1933, Ruiz Milán was not only a doctor in Psychology from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) but also a master of Spanish literature. She was a founding member of the Mexican Society of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy and directed a Children's Theater Center, demonstrating an early inclination to weave the arts into her professional practice.

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My whole life I was very connected to cinema, theater, literature. Before studying Psychology and Psychoanalysis, I studied a master's degree in Spanish Literature at UNAM. Art has always interested me, combined with psychoanalysis.

Her unique approach, which combined psychoanalysis with a deep appreciation for the arts, was a hallmark of her career. "My whole life I was very connected to cinema, theater, literature. Before studying Psychology and Psychoanalysis, I studied a master's degree in Spanish Literature at UNAM. Art has always interested me, combined with psychoanalysis," she stated in an interview last year.

Ruiz Milán, who was also the mother of renowned writer Juan Villoro, had been in delicate health and hospitalized for several days prior to her passing. In her later years, she reflected on societal shifts, particularly noting a "profound loss of values" among younger generations, who she felt found traditional aspirations like love, friendship, and career advancement increasingly out of reach, leading to widespread unhappiness.

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I see a profound loss of values, because before, aspirations were love, friendship, having a house, building a career, traveling, but today that seems unattainable. People are profoundly unhappy.