Andrew Solomon (born October 30, 1963) is a writer on politics, culture and psychology, who lives in New York City and London. He has written for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', ''

Artforum ''Artforum'' is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art. The magazine is distinguished from other magazines by its unique 10½ x 10½ inch square format, with each cover often devoted to the work of an artist. Notabl ...

'', '' Travel and Leisure'', and other publications on a range of subjects, including depression,

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

artists, the cultural rebirth of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

n politics, and Deaf politics. Solomon's book '' The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression'' won the 2001

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

, (With acceptance speech by Solomon.) was a finalist for the 2002 Pulitzer Prize, and was included in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' list of one hundred best books of the decade. Honors awarded to '' Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity'' include the 2012

National Book Critics Circle Award The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".National Council on Crime and Delinquency Evident Change, formerly the National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD), is an American nonprofit social research organization. NCCD was organized by fourteen probation officers who met at Plymouth Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on June 1 ...

, the

Anisfield-Wolf Book Award The Anisfield-Wolf Book Award is an American literary award dedicated to honoring written works that make important contributions to the understanding of racism and the appreciation of the rich diversity of human culture. Established in 1935 by Clev ...

, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the

J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize The J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize is an annual award in the amount of $10,000 given to a book that exemplifies, "literary grace, a commitment to serious research and social concern.” The prize is given by the Nieman Foundation and by the Columbia ...

, and the Wellcome Book Prize. Solomon is a Professor of Clinical Psychology at

Columbia University Medical Center NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center (NYP/CUIMC), also known as the Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC), is an academic medical center and the largest campus of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. It includes C ...

, a lecturer at Yale School of Medicine, and a past President of

PEN American Center PEN America (formerly PEN American Center), founded in 1922 and headquartered in New York City, is a nonprofit organization that works to defend and celebrate free expression in the United States and worldwide through the advancement of liter ...

Early life and education

Family

Solomon's paternal grandfather, who was Jewish, emigrated from

Dorohoi Dorohoi () is a municipiu, city in Botoșani County, Romania, on the right bank of the river Jijia, which broadens into a lake on the north. History Dorohoi used to be a market for the timber and farm produce of the north Moldavian highlands; m ...

, Romania, to the United States in 1900. Solomon is the oldest son of Carolyn Bower Solomon and Howard Solomon, former chairman of Forest Laboratories and founder of Hildred Capital Partners; he is brother to David Solomon, also of Hildred Capital Partners. Solomon described the experience of his family's presence at his mother's planned suicide at the end of a long battle with

ovarian cancer Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different c ...

in an article for ''

''; in a fictionalized account in his novel, ''A Stone Boat''; and again in '' The Noonday Demon''. Solomon's subsequent depression, eventually managed with psychotherapy and antidepressant medications, inspired his father to secure FDA approval to market

citalopram Citalopram, sold under the brand name Celexa among others, is an antidepressant of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class. It is used to treat major depressive disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, and so ...

(Celexa) in the United States.

Education

Solomon was born and raised in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. He attended the

Horace Mann School , motto_translation = Great is the truth and it prevails , address = 231 West 246th Street , city = The Bronx , state = New York , zipcode = 10471 , countr ...

, graduating ''cum laude'' in 1981. He received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in English from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

in 1985, graduating ''magna cum laude'', and later earned a master's degree in English at

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

. In August 2013, he was awarded a Ph.D. in psychology from Jesus College, Cambridge, with a thesis on

attachment theory Attachment theory is a psychological, evolutionary and ethological theory concerning relationships between humans. The most important tenet is that young children need to develop a relationship with at least one primary caregiver for normal ...

prepared under the supervision of Juliet Mitchell.

Publications and career

In 1988, Solomon began his study of Russian artists, which culminated with the publication of ''The Irony Tower: Soviet Artists in a Time of Glasnost'' (Knopf, 1991). His first novel, ''A Stone Boat'' (Faber, 1994), the story of a man's shifting identity as he watches his mother battle cancer, was a runner up for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' First Fiction prize. From 1993 to 2001, Solomon was a contributing writer for ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...

''. '' The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression'' was originally published in May 2001, and has been translated into twenty-four languages. It was named a Notable Book of 2001 by ''

'', and was included in the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

's 2002 list of Notable Books. It won the

National Book Award for Nonfiction The National Book Award for Nonfiction is one of five U.S. annual National Book Awards, which are given by the National Book Foundation to recognize outstanding literary work by U.S. citizens. They are awards "by writers to writers". The panelists ...

; the Books for a Better Life Award from the

National Multiple Sclerosis Society The National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) is a nonprofit organization that was founded in New York City as the Association for Advancement of Research on Multiple Sclerosis on March 11, 1946 by Sylvia Lawry. Ms. Lawry was a lawyer looking fo ...

; the 2002 Ken Book Award from the

National Alliance on Mental Illness The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is a United States-based nonprofit organization originally founded as a grassroots group by family members of people diagnosed with mental illness. NAMI identifies its mission as "providing advoc ...

of New York City; Mind Book of the Year; the

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

for Autobiography/Memoir; and Quality Paperback Book Club's New Visions Award. Following publication of ''The Noonday Demon'', Solomon was honored with the Dr Albert J. Solnit Memorial Award from Fellowship Place; the Voice of Mental Health Award from the Jed Foundation and the National Mental Health Association (now Mental Health America); the Prism Award from the National Depressive and Manic-Depressive Association; the Erasing the Stigma Leadership Award from Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services; the Charles T. Rubey L.O.S.S. Award from the Karla Smith Foundation; and the

Silvano Arieti Silvano Arieti (June 28, 1914 in Pisa, Italy – August 7, 1981 in New York City) was a psychiatrist regarded as one of the world's foremost authorities on schizophrenia. He received his M.D. from the University of Pisa and left Italy soon after, ...

Award from the William Alanson White Institute. In 2003, Solomon's article, "The Amazing Life of Laura", a profile of diarist Laura Rothenberg, received the Clarion Award for Health Care Journalism, and the Angel of Awareness Award from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. In April 2009, his article, "Cancer & Creativity: One Chef's True Story," received the Bert Greene Award for Food Journalism by the

International Association of Culinary Professionals The International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) is a United States-based not-for-profit professional association whose members work in culinary education, communication, or the preparation of food and beverage. History The organizati ...

; the story was also a finalist for the 11th Annual Henry R. Luce Award. Solomon's reminiscence on a friend who committed suicide won the Folio Eddie Gold Award in 2011. In addition to his magazine work, Solomon has written essays for many anthologies and books of criticism, and his work has been featured on

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

's ''Moth Radio Hour''. '' Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity'' is about how families accommodate children with physical, mental and social disabilities and differences; it was published in November 2012 in the United States and two months later in the UK (under the title, ''Far from the Tree: A Dozen Kinds of Love''). The writing of the book was supported by residencies at

Yaddo Yaddo is an artists' community located on a estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment.". On March ...

MacDowell Colony MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire, United States, founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDowel ...

Ucross Foundation The Ucross Foundation, located in Ucross, Wyoming, is a nonprofit organization that operates an internationally known retreat for visual artists, writers, composers, and choreographers working in all creative disciplines. History Founded in 1981 ...

, and the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center; at MacDowell, Solomon was the DeWitt Wallace/Reader's Digest Fellow and later the Stanford Calderwood fellow. The book was named one of the 10 best books of 2012 by ''

''. It won the

National Council on Crime and Delinquency Evident Change, formerly the National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD), is an American nonprofit social research organization. NCCD was organized by fourteen probation officers who met at Plymouth Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on June 1 ...

, the

, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the

Books for a Better Life Award, the

, the Wellcome Book Prize, and the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) Book of the Year Award for Nonfiction. A young adult edition of ''Far from the Tree'' was published in July 2017. Following publication of ''Far from the Tree'', Solomon was also honored with the Yale Department of Psychiatry's Neuroscience 2013 Research Advocacy Award, the Fountain House Humanitarian Award, the Gray Matters Award from the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry, the University of Michigan's Mike Wallace Award, the Friend and Benefactor Award of the Global and Regional Asperger Syndrome Partnership, the

Seeds of Hope Award, and the Klerman Award from the Weill-Cornell Medical College Department of Psychiatry. In Summer of 2014, Solomon was appointed Professor of Clinical Psychology at

. In 2014, Solomon was awarded the Erikson Institute Prize for Excellence in Mental Health Media. In February 2016, Solomon wrote the introduction to '' A Mother's Reckoning'', a memoir by Sue Klebold, mother of one of the Columbine shooters, Dylan Klebold. He also interviewed Peter Lanza, the father of Adam Lanza, the perpetrator of the

Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting occurred on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut, United States, when 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people. Twenty of the victims were children between six and seven years old, and t ...

. In April 2016, Scribner published ''Far and Away: Reporting from the Brink of Change'', a collection of Solomon's international reporting since 1991; the book has since been reissued with the title, ''Far and Away: How Travel Can Change the World''. ''

'' included ''Far and Away'' in its list of 100 Notable Books of 2016. On November 10, 2017, ''Far from the Tree'', a documentary based on Solomon's book, premiered at the DOC NYC festival. North American

rights Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory ...

to the documentary have been acquired by Sundance Selects.

Activism and philanthropy

Solomon is an activist and philanthropist in

LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is ...

rights, mental health, education and the arts. He is founder of the Solomon Research Fellowships in

LGBT Studies Queer studies, sexual diversity studies, or LGBT studies is the education of topics relating to sexual orientation and gender identity usually focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender dysphoria, asexual, queer, questioning, ...

, a member of the board of directors of the

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force The National LGBTQ Task Force is an American social justice advocacy non-profit organizing the grassroots power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community. Also known as The Task Force, the organization supports ac ...

and a patron of the Proud2Be Project. His articles on

gay marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

have appeared in ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

'', '' The Advocate'', and '' Anderson Cooper 360''. Solomon has lectured widely on depression, including at

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

, Stanford, Harvard,

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

, and the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

. He is a Distinguished Associate of the Centre for Family Research at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

; a director of the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Depression Center, Columbia Psychiatry, and

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) is a private, non-profit institution with research programs focusing on cancer, neuroscience, plant biology, genomics, and quantitative biology. It is one of 68 institutions supported by the Cancer Centers ...

; a member of the Board of Visitors of

Columbia Medical School Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) is the graduate medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Founded i ...

, and the Advisory Boards of the Mental Health Policy Forum at

Columbia Mailman School of Public Health The Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health is the public health graduate school of Columbia University. Located on the Columbia University Medical Center campus in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, the scho ...

and the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance. In 2011, he was appointed Special Advisor on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Mental Health at the Yale School of Psychiatry. In 2008, Solomon received the Society of Biological Psychiatry's Humanitarian Award for his contributions to the field of mental health, and in 2010, the

Brain & Behavior Research Foundation The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (BBRF) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that funds mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It like ...

's Productive Lives Award. Solomon's work in the arts and education has included service on the boards of the

Alliance for the Arts The Alliance for the Arts is a New York City organization which serves the cultural community through research and advocacy. Now in its 32nd year, the alliance publishes information on the art and cultural events in New York City as well as studi ...

, the

World Monuments Fund World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and trainin ...

, and The Alex Fund, which supports the education of Romani children, He is a member of the

Board of Directors, and served as its president from 2015 to 2018. Solomon is a Trustee of the New York Public Library, a Trustee of the

Metropolitan Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, and a member of the Board of Directors of the artists' retreat

. He is also a fellow of Berkeley College at

, and a member of the

New York Institute for the Humanities The New York Institute for the Humanities (NYIH) is an academic organization founded by Richard Sennett in 1976 to promote the exchange of ideas between academics, writers, and the general public. The NYIH regularly holds seminars open to the publ ...

and the Council on Foreign Relations. In July 2020, Solomon was one of the 153 signers of the "Harper's Letter" (also known as "

A Letter on Justice and Open Debate "A Letter on Justice and Open Debate", also known as the ''Harper's'' Letter, is an open letter defending free speech published on the ''Harper's Magazine'' website on July 7, 2020, with 153 signatories, criticizing what it called "illiberalism" ...

") that expressed concern that "the free exchange of information and ideas, the lifeblood of a liberal society, is dally becoming more constricted."

Personal life

As an adult, Solomon became a

dual citizen Dual or Duals may refer to: Paired/two things * Dual (mathematics), a notion of paired concepts that mirror one another ** Dual (category theory), a formalization of mathematical duality *** see more cases in :Duality theories * Dual (grammatical ...

of the United States and the United Kingdom. He and journalist John Habich had a

civil partnership A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

ceremony on June 30, 2007, at

Althorp Althorp (popularly pronounced ) is a Grade I listed stately home and estate in the civil parish of Althorp, in West Northamptonshire, England of about . By road it is about northwest of the county town of Northampton and about northwest of ...

, the

Spencer family The Spencer family is an aristocratic family in the United Kingdom. From the 16th century, its members have held numerous titles including the dukedom of Marlborough, the earldoms of Sunderland and Spencer, and the Churchill barony. Two prom ...

estate and childhood home of Diana, Princess of Wales. The couple married again on July 17, 2009, the eighth anniversary of their meeting, in Connecticut, so that their marriage would be legally recognized in the state of New York. In 2003, Solomon and longtime friend Blaine Smith have a child together; their daughter, Carolyn Blaine Smith Solomon, was born in November 2007. Smith and their child live in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. A son, George Charles Habich Solomon, was born in April 2009, and lives in New York with Solomon and Habich, his adoptive father. Habich is also the biological father of two children, Oliver and Lucy Scher, born to lesbian friends who live in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. The development of this composite

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

was the subject of a feature article by Solomon published in ''

'' in January 2011, and in an April 2012 profile in ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

''.

Bibliography

Non-fiction

* * * * * * Online version is titled "How Polyamorists and Polygamists Are Challenging Family Norms".

Fiction

Reviews and criticism of Solomon's work

;''Far from the Tree'' * ——————— ;Notes

TED and TEDx Talks

Solomon is also a TED speaker. The themes of his TED talks include depression, identity,

love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of meanings is that the love o ...

, acceptance, and the value of

travel Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel c ...

References

External links

* * Andrew Solomon interview with Charlie Rose, 28 November 201

"Andrew Solomon: 'I'm one of five parents with four children in three states'"
Carole Cadwalladr, ''

'', February 16, 2013. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Solomon, Andrew 1963 births 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge American health activists American male journalists American male novelists American people of Romanian-Jewish descent American people with disabilities American psychology writers Columbia University faculty Harvard University staff Horace Mann School alumni Journalists from New York City Lambda Literary Award winners LGBT academics LGBT Jews LGBT memoirists American LGBT novelists LGBT people from New York (state) Living people National Book Award winners Novelists from New York (state) People with mood disorders Stanford University staff The New Yorker people University of Michigan staff Wellcome Book Prize Writers from New York City Yale University alumni 21st-century LGBT people Yaddo alumni