Iza Sznerjerson Erlich, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry, social work, died on Feb. 9 at Yale-New Haven Hospital, Y-NHH, after a long illness. The longtime Hamden resident was 77 years old.
The daughter of the late Leon and Sophie Szereszewska Sznejerson, she was born in Petersburg, Russia, and raised in Warsaw Poland. With the outbreak of World War II in 1942, she left Poland for New York. There, she attended the New School for Social Research, where she received her bachelor's and master's degrees in psychology. She then moved to Seattle to pursue her master's degree in social work at the University of Washington School of Social Work.
From 1963 to 1983, she was a psychotherapist with Yale University Health Services in the department of mental health.
In 1983, she graduated from Western New England Institute for Psychoanalysis, where she became the first social worker to be admitted for psychoanalytic training. After graduating from the institute, she went into private practice as a psychoanalyst in New Haven.
Ms. Erlich was the wife of Victor Erlich, professor emeritus of Russian literature and of Slavic languages and literatures. She is also survived by her sons, Henry A. Erlich of Oakland, California, and Mark L. Erlich of Boston; and seven grandchildren. Memorial contributions may be made to the Western New England Institute for Psychoanalysis, 255 Bradley St., New Haven 06510.