Eugène Minkowski
Encyclopedia
Eugène Minkowski was a French psychiatrist
, born in Saint Petersburg
, Russia
.
Minkowski proposed that psychopathology
should always be interpreted taking into account the personal experience of time
. The main concepts created by Minkowski included the ideas of "vital contact with reality" and "lived time". He was associated with the work of Henri Ey
, Eugen Bleuler
and Ludwig Binswanger
. According to R.D Laing
, Minkowski made "the first serious attempt in psychiatry to reconstruct the other person's lived experience." He is quoted on the first page of Laing's classic The Divided Self:
He married Françoise Minkowska
-Brokman, also a psychiatrist
, and was the father of Alexandre Minkowski
, pediatrician.
and started his medical studies in Warsaw
. However, due to political repression from the czarist government, he was compelled to accomplish his education in Munich
and obtained his degree there in 1909. Very soon he was attracted by philosophy. In psychiatry, he dedicated his studies to psychopathological issues related to the perception of time, influenced by phenomenology and Bergson ideas. In 1914 he finished his work entitled "Les éléments essentiels du temps-qualité", which was never published but where Minkowski his concerns with time. In 1926 Minkowski defended his dissertation, "La notion de perte de contact avec la réalité et ses applications en psychopathologie"(i.e. "The notion of the lost of contact with reality and his applications in psychopathology").
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
, born in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
Minkowski proposed that psychopathology
Psychopathology
Psychopathology is the study of mental illness, mental distress, and abnormal/maladaptive behavior. The term is most commonly used within psychiatry where pathology refers to disease processes...
should always be interpreted taking into account the personal experience of time
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
. The main concepts created by Minkowski included the ideas of "vital contact with reality" and "lived time". He was associated with the work of Henri Ey
Henri Ey
Henri Ey was a French psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and philosopher.-Biography:Ey was born on 10 August 1900 in Banyuls-dels-Aspres, Pyrénées-Orientales, and died on 9 November 1977....
, Eugen Bleuler
Eugen Bleuler
Paul Eugen Bleuler was a Swiss psychiatrist most notable for his contributions to the understanding of mental illness and for coining the term "schizophrenia."-Biography:...
and Ludwig Binswanger
Ludwig Binswanger
Ludwig Binswanger was a Swiss psychiatrist and pioneer in the field of existential psychology...
. According to R.D Laing
Ronald David Laing
Ronald David Laing was a Scottish psychiatrist who wrote extensively on mental illnessin particular, the experience of psychosis...
, Minkowski made "the first serious attempt in psychiatry to reconstruct the other person's lived experience." He is quoted on the first page of Laing's classic The Divided Self:
"Je donne une œuvre subjective ici, œuvre cependant qui tend de toutes ses forces vers l'objectivité."
(I offer you a subjective work, but a work which nevertheless struggles with all its might towards objectivity.)
He married Françoise Minkowska
Françoise Minkowska
Françoise Minkowska-Brokman was a French Jewish psychiatrist, born in Poland. She was married to Eugene Minkowski, psychiatrist, and the mother of Alexandre Minkowski, pediatrician. She was a student of Eugen Bleuler and associated with the work of Hermann Rorschach, another of Bleuler's...
-Brokman, also a psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
, and was the father of Alexandre Minkowski
Alexandre Minkowski
Alexandre Minkowski was a French pediatrician, and arguably the French physician who most influenced neonatology in the 20th century.He was the son of Eugene Minkowski and Françoise Minkowska, two Jewish psychiatrists....
, pediatrician.
Biography
Minkowski was born into a Jewish family from LithuaniaLithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
and started his medical studies in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. However, due to political repression from the czarist government, he was compelled to accomplish his education in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
and obtained his degree there in 1909. Very soon he was attracted by philosophy. In psychiatry, he dedicated his studies to psychopathological issues related to the perception of time, influenced by phenomenology and Bergson ideas. In 1914 he finished his work entitled "Les éléments essentiels du temps-qualité", which was never published but where Minkowski his concerns with time. In 1926 Minkowski defended his dissertation, "La notion de perte de contact avec la réalité et ses applications en psychopathologie"(i.e. "The notion of the lost of contact with reality and his applications in psychopathology").