Hill psychiatrist authors analysis of Homer's 'Iliad'

by Len Lear
Posted 7/2/21

Chestnut Hill psychiatrist Vincenzo Sanguineti, 83, admits his new book, “Clash of Cultures” (Lexington Books), is not for everyone.

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Hill psychiatrist authors analysis of Homer's 'Iliad'

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Chestnut Hill psychiatrist Vincenzo Sanguineti, 83, admits his new book, “Clash of Cultures” (Lexington Books), is not for everyone. In addition to his medical and psychological expertise, the erudite, intellectual 30-year Chestnut Hill resident (and West Mt. Airy before that) has a scholarly fascination in the history and culture of classical Greece and Rome. 

For the last 30 years, Dr. Sanguineti has had a private psychiatry practice and has been an associate professor of psychiatry at Sidney Kimmel Medical Center at Thomas Jefferson University. His recent book, “Clash of Cultures,” released in mid-March of this year, has been acclaimed as a compelling work, offering psychological insight into Homer and the cultural and political turmoil of his time, yet spiritually relevant to our own.

“With wit, humor and scholarship,” one reviewer wrote, “this original interpretation of 'The Iliad'  examines the psychological complexities of Homer and uses that historic poem as a narrative for social and personal grief and healing.”

When I heard Dr. Sanguineti's mellifluous Italian accent during our Zoom interview, I assumed he must have been born and raised in Italy, which turned out to be a false assumption. He was actually born and raised in Ethiopia, which was occupied and colonized by Mussolini's dictatorship from 1936 to 1941. After World War II he lived in Eritrea, which was annexed to Ethiopia after the war. (It did not become independent until 1994.)

Dr. Sanguineti spent two years in Milan, where he graduated from medical school, from 1960 to 1962 and ran a field hospital in Nigeria from 1965 to 1970. But while in Asmara, the capital of Eritrea, he met many young Americans who were stationed at a military base very close to his house.

“A lot of them came to our house for dinner,” he said, “and I became interested in American culture. I was curious, so I came to the U.S. to learn more and also to learn more about surgery. However, when I was working at a psychiatric hospital associated with Yale University in Connecticut, I decided to shift to psychiatry.”

Dr. Sanguineti came to the U.S. in 1970, spent 10 years in Connecticut, completed his psychiatric training at Yale and was a member of its faculty until he relocated to Philadelphia in 1989 to accept a position at Jefferson Medical School, where he was on the faculty for 10 years. He still sees about 15 patients a week at his private practice across the street from Jefferson in center city, and he still teaches residents at Jefferson but does not do any clinical work in the hospital. About 80 percent of his patients are now back to in-person sessions.

Dr. Sanguineti, who is also a gardener but is “more interested in the roots than in the flowers,” authored two previous books, "Landscapes" and "Rosetta," which he says illustrate “my long-standing search on the ultimate subjectivity and uniqueness of each individual mind; how the mind operates simultaneously at the neurological and at the psychological levels; and my pioneer concept of consciousness of the brain, which simplifies understanding unconscious phenomena.”

Dr. Sanguineti's areas of expertise in adult psychiatry include obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety disorders, PTSD, depression bipolar disorders; pain management; addictions and substance abuse; problems of aging, et al.

“By practicing for over 40 years;” he said, “I came to realize that every individual is able to change his or her way of thinking and feeling, provided the client is willing to do so. My role is to individualize which role medications and psychotherapy may play for each client, in which combination, and to act accordingly.”

Regarding his new book, the Chestnut Hill psychiatrist said, “I am 'old school.' I was brought up on the classics and culture of Western civilization. My dad spoke Greek and Latin fluently. He believed in the  high culture of the West, and Homer is the most significant poet in the canon of Western civilization. I first read 'The Iliad' at the age of 13.”

Dr. Sanguineti's wife of 30 years, Marion Rudin Frank, has been a licensed psychologist for over 40 years and is also the founder and president of PPS, a company delivering Employee Assistance Programs to local employees and their families and accepting most insurance plans. Dr.Sanguineti has two children from a previous marriage, and Frank has one.

For more information, visit vsanguineti.com or amazon.com for a Kindle edition of “Clash of Cultures.” Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com