Eugène Minkowski: a brief biography of this French psychiatrist

We review the life and work of this renowned 20th century psychiatrist.

Who was Eugène Minkowski? He was a renowned French psychiatrist and philosopher, of Polish Jewish origin, born in 1885 and died in 1972. He is best known for having incorporated phenomenology into psychopathology and French psychiatric knowledge.

In this article we will briefly review his biography: origin, personal life, academic and working career, contributions to the field of psychiatry and philosophy, some of his works, death and legacy.

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Eugène Minkowski: who was he?

Eugène Minkowski was a French psychiatrist of Polish Jewish origin, who was born in St. Petersburg (Russia), on April 17, 1885, and died on November 17, 1972 in Paris (France), at the age of 87.

One of France's greatest specialists in psychopathology, Eugène Minkowski (1885-1972), was also one of the most renowned French psychiatrists in psychiatry worldwide.. He is also considered the founder of psychiatric phenomenology, together with Otto Binswanger, an important Swiss psychiatrist and neurologist.

Specifically, on November 25, 1922, his study entitled "A Case of Schizophrenic Melancholia" was presented at the 63rd Conference of the Swiss Society of Psychiatry (Zurich), as well as a report on phenomenology by Binswanger. These contributions were key to name Eugène Minkowski and Otto Binswanger as the fathers of psychiatric phenomenology.

Eugène Minkowski's ideas began to spread beyond Switzerland and France, and in 1958 they reached the United States, thanks to two other authors: Henri Ellemberger and Rollo May.

Origin

Eugène Minkowski was born into a Polish Jewish family. During his youth, his father Augustus was engaged in the development of the grain market in St. Petersburg, where Minkowski was born. Minkowski is the second of four brothers.

In his childhood he turns out to be a brilliant pupil, and stands out for his interest in the political and social sphere.

Career and personal life

Eugène Minkowski's family returns to Warsaw with him. In those years (1905), Minkowski hesitates about which studies to pursue (mathematics, medicine or philosophy); finally, however, he ends up studying medicine at the Warsaw faculty with his older brother, Mietek. His choice has to do with his sensitivity and vocation to help people.

Minkowski completed his studies in 1908 and moved to Munich.. A year later he returned to Russia, specifically to Kazan. There he met Rorschah and Françoise Trockman, his future wife, whom he married in 1913. Françoise Trockman is a psychiatrist, also Jewish, and the daughter of Poles in Russia.

Françoise's professional interests and concerns are similar to those of Minkowski. Françoise also made great contributions; one of them is the introduction of the Hermann Rorschach test in France.

Career and influences

Another interesting fact about Minkowski's career is that he was a student of Eugen Bleuler, a renowned Swiss psychiatrist. Specifically, Eugène Minkowski and Françoise Trockman, during the First World War, took refuge in Switzerland, where they carried out an "internship" in Eugen Bleuler's clinic (specifically in Zurich). To Zurich the couple flees with Minkowski's brother Mieczysław.

It is in Bleuler's clinic that Minkowski, as a clinic assistant, has the opportunity to think about whether he wants to specialize in psychiatry. Bleuler influences Minkowski, who is very interested in the former's clinical practice. Another of the authors who influence him is Karl Jaspers; through his influences (and others) Minkowski tries to synthesize some knowledge of psychiatry and philosophy.

Later, in 1915, the couple moved to Paris. There, Minkowski worked at the asylum of Ville-Évrard; he also started a research on "the essential elements of time and its quality". Minkowski then enlisted as a military doctor in the French army, where he remained for two years on the front line.

In 1925 Eugène Minkowski, Françoise Trockman and Paul Schiff founded the group "L'Évolution psychiatrique". This was a society through which a journal of the same name was created, and which allowed the introduction of phenomenology and psychoanalysis in France.

On the other hand, Minkowski was influenced by phenomenological philosophy, logically (through Ludwig Binswanger and his existential analysis) and by the vitalist philosophy of the French-Jewish philosopher Henri Bergson. Other authors who influenced his work were Edmund Husserl, German philosopher, and Max Scheler, also a German philosopher.

Contributions

As we have seen, Minkowski is known in the field of psychiatry for introducing phenomenology into psychopathology.. Nowadays phenomenology is considered a philosophical school, which analyzes observable phenomena and tries to explain the self and its consciousness.

Another contribution of Minkowski was the notion of "lived time"; with this name he baptizes one of his great works, where he reflects his knowledge of phenomenology and psychopathology.

Minkowski's schizophrenia

One of Eugène Minkowski's great contributions was his reflection on schizophrenia.. The psychiatrist considered schizophrenia as a "problem générateur", that is, as a generative disorder; he argued that schizophrenia implied a loss of vital contact with reality, as is the case with autism.

According to Minkowski, schizophrenia was produced (textual words): "by a deficiency in the sense of time and intuition, and by a progressive hypertrophy of the comprehension of spatial factors."

If we go a little further back, we see how Minkowski tries to introduce phenomenology into his field of research on psychopathology and mental disorders. Thus, Minkowski tries to explain the experience of some patients (with schizophrenia, for example); specifically, he focuses on those who suffered distortions in two domains or elements: time and space.

Thus, in 1927, Minkowski published his first research on the psychopathology of schizophrenia. He was influenced by Bergson in his research. He entitled his work "La Schizophrénie". It is the first book on schizophrenia written in French.

Some works

Some of Eugène Minkowski's most outstanding works, dealing with psychiatry, psychopathology, philosophy and phenomenology, were: "Schizophrenia: Psychopathology of schizoids and schizophrenics" (1927), "Treatise on psychopathology" (1966) and "Philosophy, semantics, psychopathology" (1969).

Other of his outstanding works, originally in French, are: Le Temps vécu. Étude phénoménologique et psychopathologiques (Paris: D'Artrey, 1933), La Notion de perte contact vital avec la réalité et ses applications en psychopathologie (Paris: Jouve, 1926), Vers une cosmologie (1936) and Écrits cliniques , (Eres, 2002).

In addition to his books, Eugène Minkowski published a large number of very diverse articles, which can be found in French, English, German, Spanish and Polish.

Death and legacy

Eugène Minkowski died in Paris on November 17, 1972, at the age of 87.at the age of 87. He died accompanied by his daughter and some close friends.

The legacy left by Minkowski is of great importance, especially for the field of psychopathology and phenomenology, and his contributions continue to be studied in medicine, psychology and other related sciences.

Bibliographical references:

• Almada, R. (2008). Phenomenology and psychopathology of "lived time" in Eugène Minkowski.

• Francioni, M. (1976). La psicologia fenomenologica di Eugenio Minkowski. Saggio storico ed epistemologico. Feltrinelli, Milano.

• Lanteri-Laura, G. (1965). Psiquiatría fenomenológica. Troquel, Buenos Aires.

• Rahmani, R. and Pacheco, L. (2018). Classics of Psychiatry (XXXVI): Eugène Minkowski. Lmentala, 61: 1-12.