Eugène Minkowski

Eugène Minkowski
Born
Eugeniusz Minkowski

(1885-04-17)17 April 1885
Died17 November 1972(1972-11-17) (aged 87)
Paris, France
NationalityPolish, then French
CitizenshipRussian (until 1918 )
French (from 1918)
Alma materImperial University of Warsaw
University of Breslau
University of Göttingen
University of Munich
Known forSchizophrenia research, Évolution Psychiatrique, élan vital
SpouseFrançoise Minkowska née Franciszka Brokman
AwardsCroix de guerre 1914–1918, Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur
Scientific career
FieldsMedicine, psychiatry, phenomenology, phenomenology of perception, phenomenology (psychology)
InstitutionsBurghölzli Hospital
French Army in World War I
Hôpital Sainte-Anne

Eugène Minkowski (French: [øʒɛn mɛ̃kɔwski]; born Eugeniusz Minkowski; 17 April 1885 – 17 November 1972) was a French psychiatrist of Jewish Polish origin, known for his incorporation of phenomenology into psychopathology and for exploring the notion of "lived time". A student of Eugen Bleuler, he was also associated with the work of Ludwig Binswanger and Henri Ey. He was influenced by phenomenological philosophy and the vitalistic philosophy of Henri Bergson, and by the phenomenologists Edmund Husserl and Max Scheler; therefore his work departed from classical medical and psychological models. He was a prolific author in several languages and regarded, as a great humanitarian. Minkowski accepted the phenomenological essence of schizophrenia as the "trouble générateur" ("generative disturbance"), which he thought consists in a loss of "vital contact with reality" and shows itself as autism.