Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

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birth_date = Birth date|1926|7|8|mf=y
birth_place = Zürich, Switzerland
death_date = death date and age|2004|8|24|1926|7|8|mf=y
death_place = Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
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field = psychiatry
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known_for = Kübler-Ross model
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Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D. (July 8, 1926 – August 24, 2004) was a Swiss-born psychiatrist and the author of the groundbreaking book "On Death and Dying", where she first discussed what is now known as the Kübler-Ross model. She is a 2007 inductee into the National Women's Hall of Fame. She was the recipient of twenty honorary degrees and by July 1982 had taught, in her estimation, 125,000 students in death and dying courses in colleges, seminaries, medical schools, hospitals, and social-work institutions. ["Turn on, tune in, drop dead" by Ron Rosenbaum, HARPER'S, July 1982, pages 32-42]

Birth and education

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross was born on July 8, 1926 in Zürich, Switzerland, one of triplets. Elizabeth was born fifteen minutes before her identical sister. Minutes after came her fraternal sister. [Newman, Laura. [http://www.bmj.com/cgi/reprint/329/7466/627.pdf Elisabeth Kübler-Ross] . (2004). "British Medical Journal, 329 (7466)," 627. Retrieved November 17, 2006.] She graduated from the University of Zürich medical school in 1957.

Academic career

She moved to the United States in 1958 to work and continue her studies in New York.

As she began her practice, she was appalled by the hospital treatment of patients who were dying. She began giving a series of lectures featuring terminally ill patients, forcing medical students to confront people who were dying. Her extensive work with the dying led to "On Death and Dying" in 1969. She wrote over 20 additional books on the subject of dying.

She also proposed the now famous Five Stages of Grief as a pattern of phases, most or all of which people tend to go through, not always in sequence, after being faced with the tragedy of their own impending death. The five stages of grief, in sequential order, are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. The five stages have since been adopted by many as applying to the survivors of a loved one's death, as well.

She did not found the hospice care movement, but is credited with encouraging it. Kübler-Ross completed her degree in psychiatry at the University of Colorado in 1963 and was awarded 23 honorary doctorates.

In later life, Kübler-Ross became interested in out-of-body experiences and mediumistic attempts to contact the dead. This led to a to scandal connected with one medium at the Shanti Nilaya healing center. The naked medium's penis was being held when someone unexpectedly pulled the tape off the light. ["Playboy Interview with Elizabeth Kubler-Ross" Playboy Magazine, May, 1981] ["The Conversion of Kubler-Ross", TIME, 12 Nov 1979 ] ["Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in the Afterworld of Entities" by Kate Coleman, NEW WEST, 30 July 1979] She also provoked anger with her healing centers for AIDS victims.

Kübler-Ross suffered a series of strokes in 1995 which left her partially paralyzed on her left side. In a 2002 interview with The Arizona Republic, she stated that she was ready for death. She died in 2004 at her home in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Personal life

In 1958 she married a fellow medical student from America, Emanuel ("Manny") Ross and moved to the United States. Becoming pregnant disqualified Kübler-Ross from a residency in pediatrics, so she took one in psychiatry. She had four miscarriages; a son, Kenneth, and a daughter, Barbara, were born in the early 1960s. [ [http://www.deathreference.com/Ke-Ma/K-bler-Ross-Elisabeth.html Kübler-Ross, Elisabeth ] ]

Honorary Degrees

*"Doctor of Science, H.C., Albany Medical College, New York 1974
*"Doctor of Laws, University of Notre Dame, IN.,1974
*"Doctor of Science, Smith College 1975
*"Doctor of Science, Molley College, Rockville Center, NY, 1976
*"Doctor of Humanities, St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, IN. 1975
*"Doctor of Laws, Hamline University, MN. 1975
*"Doctor of Humane Letters, Amherst College, MA. 1975
*"Doctor of Humane Letters, Loyola University, IL 1975
*"Doctor of Humanities, Hood College, MD 1976
*"Doctor of Letters, Rosary College, IL. 1976
*"Doctor of Pedagogy, Keuka College, NY 1976
*"Doctor of Humane Science, University of Miami, FL 1976
*"Doctor of Humane Letters, Bard College, NY 1977
*"Doctor of Science, Weston MA., 1977
*"Honorary Degree, Anna Maria College, MA., 1978
*"Doctor of Humane Letters, Union College, New York 1978
*"Doctor of Humane Letters, D'Youville College, New York 1979
*"Doctor of Science, Fairleigh Dickinson University, 1979
*"Doctor of Divinity, 1996

elected bibliography

*"On Death & Dying", (Simon & Schuster/Touchstone), 1969
*"Questions & Answers on Death & Dying", (Simon & Schuster/Touchstone), 1972
*"Death: The Final Stage of Growth", (Simon & Schuster/Touchstone), 1974
* "Questions and Answers on Death and Dying: A Memoir of Living and Dying", Macmillan, 1976. ISBN 0025671200.
*"To Live Until We Say Goodbye", (Simon & Schuster/Touchstone), 1978
*"The Doughy Letter -A Letter to a Dying Child", (Celestial Arts/Ten Speed Press), 1979
*"Quest, Biography of EKR (Written with Derek Gill)", (Harper & Row), 1980
*"Working It Through", (Simon & Schuster/Touchstone),1981
*"Living With Death & Dying", (Simon & Schuster/Touchstone),1981
*"Remember The Secret", (Celestial Arts/Ten Speed Press)1981
*"On Children & Death", (Simon & Schuster)1985
*"AIDS: The Ultimate Challenge", (Simon & Schuster)1988
*"On Life After Death", (Celestial Arts)1991
*"Death is of Vital Importance", (Out of Print- Now "The Tunnel and the Light") 1995
*"Unfolding the Wings of Love" (Germany only - Silberschnur), 1996
*"Making the Most of the Inbetween", (Various Foreign) 1996
*"Aids & Love", The Conference in Barcelona, (Spain) 1996
*"Longing to Go Back Home", (Germany only - Silberschnur), 1997
* "Working It Through: An Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Workshop on Life, Death, and Transition", Simon & Schuster, 1997. ISBN 0684839423.
*"The Wheel of Life", (Simon & Schuster/Scribner),1997
*"Why Are We Here", (Germany only - Silberschnur), 1999
*"The Tunnel and the Light", (Avalon), 1999
*"Life Lessons: Two Experts on Death and Dying Teach Us about the Mysteries of Life and Living", with David Kessler, Scribner, 2001. ISBN 0684870746.
* "On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages of Loss", with David Kessler. Scribner, 2005. ISBN 0743266285.
*"Real Taste of Life": A photographic Journal

Quotes

* "People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within."

Further reading

* "Quest: The Life of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross", by Derek Gill. Ballantine Books (Mm), 1982. ISBN 0345300947.
* "The Life Work of Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and Its Impact on the Death Awareness Movement", by Michèle Catherine Gantois Chaban. E. Mellen Press, 2000. ISBN 0773483020.
* "Elisabeth Kubler-Ross: Encountering Death and Dying", by Richard Worth. Published by Facts On File, Inc., 2004. ISBN 0791080277.

References

External links

* [http://www.elisabethkublerross.com/index.html Elisabeth Kübler-Ross] : Kübler-Ross's home page.
* [http://www.wic.org/bio/eross.htm Women's International Center biography]
* [http://ekrfoundation.org/ Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Foundation]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,3604,1293825,00.html Obituary] in The Guardian
* [http://economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=3150610 Obituary] in The Economist
*" [http://www.slate.com/id/2107069/ Dead Like Her: How Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Went Around the Bend] " by Ron Rosenbaum in Slate