During the night, the psychologist and psychotherapist Vera Slepoj died, struck by a sudden illness in her home in Padua. Born in Portogruaro (Venice) in 1954, at the age of 23 she graduated in psychology from the University of Padua with a thesis on “Deviance and control mechanisms in a current society”.
At the beginning of the 1980s he published his first book, “Understanding feelings”, on the emotional dimension of the human being. The theme, which has been the subject of subsequent and numerous publications, has made her a character known to the public also for her numerous appearances on television programmes. Among his experiences was that of professor of health sociology at the University of Siena.
Of his numerous books we like to remember “Understanding feelings” (Mondadori 1996), “Legami di famiglia” (Mondadori 1998). “The wounds of women” (Mondadori 2002), “The wounds of men” (Mondadori 2005), “The age of uncertainty” (Mondadori 2008). “The new wounds of men” (Cairo editore 2010), “The psychology of love” (Mondadori 2015).
Here is how the mayor of Padua, Sergio Giordani, comments on the news: “A loss not only for the scientific community, but also for the city, where she, originally from Portogruaro, had chosen to live after graduating from our University“.
Candidate for the National Alliance at the 1999 European elections, and not elected despite the approximately seven thousand preferences received, she accepted the administrative experience as councilor for culture and museums of the Province of Padua, between 1999 and 2004. She had also been president of the Italian Federation Psychologists and the International Health Observatory.
But the courageous attempt to provide psychological support to a football team is also linked to Vera Slepoj. It was the Palermo of the 1999/2000 season coached by Massimo Morgia who took advantage of individual and group sessions. At the time, the initiative was met with skepticism and sarcasm from the world of football itself, which today considers psychological support indispensable even in the organizational chart of the technical staff.
“I learn with great sadness the news of the passing of Vera Slepoj. A courageous woman, a scholar and psychologist of value, a writer and commentator who was able to investigate the human soul and our society with depth and wit. – declared the Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano, who continues – Having appreciated her talents and cultural sensitivity, I asked her to be part of the MiC’s Superior Council of Cinema and Audiovisual. She will be greatly missed by her Veneto and the whole of Italy. My deepest condolences, personally and from the Ministry, go to her family and loved ones“.
