Wilfred Bion

Wilfred Ruprecht Bion, 1897-1979, was a British psychoanalyst. He was a pioneer in group dynamics. He was the author of Experiences in Groups, London: Tavistock, 1961 and many other books and journal articles.

Bion was born in India, but educated in England. After the outbreak of World War I, he served as a tank commander in France where he was awarded both the DSO and the Legion of Honour. Subsequently, he studied history at Queen's College, Oxford and medicine at University College London. As his interest in psychoanalysis increased, he underwent training analysis, at one point, with the Austrain psychotherapist Melanie Klein.

During the forties, he produced his pioneering work in Group Dynamics, Experiences in Groups being the culmination of that work.

From 1962 till 1965, Bion was president of the British Psychoanalytical Society. He spent his later years in Los Angeles, California.