Eugène Minkowski
| Eugène (Eugeniusz) Minkowski | |
|---|---|
| Born |
17 April 1885 Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire |
| Died | 17 November 1972 (aged 87) Paris, France |
| Residence | Warsaw (until 1905) Germany (until 1909) Kazan (until 1913) Munich and Zurich (until 1915) France (from 1915) |
| Citizenship | Russian (until 1918 ) French (from 1918) |
| Nationality | Polish, then French |
| Fields | Medicine, psychiatry, phenomenology, phenomenology of perception, phenomenology (psychology) |
| Institutions |
Burghölzli Hospital French Army in World War I Hôpital Sainte-Anne |
| Alma mater |
Imperial University of Warsaw University of Breslau University of Göttingen University of Munich |
| Known for | Schizophrenia research, Évolution Psychiatrique, élan vital |
| Influences | Karl Jaspers, Eugen Bleuler, Ludwig Binswanger, Henri Bergson, Edmund Husserl, Max Scheler |
| Influenced | Henri Ey, R.D. Laing, Maurice Merleau-Ponty |
| Notable awards | Croix de guerre 1914–1918, Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur |
| Spouse | Françoise Minkowska née Franciszka Brokman |
Eugène (Eugeniusz) Minkowski (French pronunciation: [øʒɛn mɛ̃kɔwski]; 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 the philosophy of Henri Bergson and by the phenomenologists Edmund Husserl and Max Scheler. He was a prolific author in several languages and regarded as a great humanitarian.
Minkowski was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, into a Jewish Polish family. He was second of the four sons of August Minkowski, a Warsaw banker and his wife,Tekla, née Lichtenbaum. When he was 7 years old, the family returned to the Polish capital where he attended school and started his medical studies at the Imperial University of Warsaw. However, due to political repression from the czarist government, the university was temporarily closed in 1905. He was obliged to continue his studies at Breslau University (3 semesters), at Göttingen University (2 semesters) and finally, at Munich University (3 semesters) where he obtained his medical degree in 1909. As a Russian subject, he went on to practice medicine in Kazan to obtain Russian certification, and while there, met his future wife, Franciszka Brokman, also a doctor and later known as 'Françoise'. They married in 1913. The couple settled in Munich, where Françoise pursued further work in psychiatry while Eugène took up the study of mathematics and philosophy, attending lectures by Alexander Pfänder and Moritz Geiger, pupils of Edmund Husserl. The outbreak of World War I forced them to seek refuge in Zurich with Minkowski's brother, Mieczysław (Michel). There, Minkowski and his wife both became assistants to Eugen Bleuler at the Burghölzli, a university clinic where Carl Gustav Jung and Ludwig Binswanger had practised earlier. In 1914 he finished a work entitled Les éléments essentiels du temps-qualité – The Essential Elements of Time-Quality. In 1915, the couple had a son, Alexandre Minkowski, later a pioneer of French neonatology and father of the noted orchestra conductor, Marc Minkowski, followed in 1918 by a daughter, Jeannine, a lawyer. In March 1915 he had enlisted as a medical volunteer in the French army. He saw action at the Battle of the Somme and at Battle of Verdun, where his bravery earned him several citations and military decorations, including the Croix de Guerre. He became an officer of the Legion of Honour and obtained French nationality. Of this period, Minkowski said:
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