Heinz Ludwig Ansbacher (October 21, 1904 – June 22, 2006) was a German-

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the pre ...

specializing in the theories of

Alfred Adler Alfred Adler ( , ; 7 February 1870 – 28 May 1937) was an Austrian medical doctor, psychotherapist, and founder of the school of individual psychology. His emphasis on the importance of feelings of belonging, family constellation and birth orde ...

Biography

Ansbacher was born in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

. After completing high school he worked in a brokerage firm. He immigrated to the U.S. via steamer, working as a dishwasher. Upon arrival in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

he resumed his career in the financial business and attended evening lectures by

. At one point he went to see Adler for a personal consultation concerning his unhappiness over his work and over the termination of a recent relationship. Adler encouraged him to enroll in graduate school. He attended seminars in Adler’s home, sparking his interest in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

. Through Adler, he met Rowena Ripin, who had her doctoral degree from the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...

. They were married a year later. Although he had no bachelor's degree, Ansbacher was admitted to the doctoral program at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. He wrote his doctoral dissertation on the perception of number as affected by the monetary value of objects, under R.S. Woodward, graduating in 1937. This work concerning the importance of context was cited in the 1939

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...

Presidential Address. Ansbacher served on the faculty of Brown University from 1940 through 1943, and worked for Walter S. Hunter as an editor for ''

Psychological Abstracts ''Psychological Abstracts'' was an abstract and index periodical and the print counterpart of the PsycINFO database. It was published by the American Psychological Association and was produced for 80 years, ceasing publication at the end of 2006 ...

''. Following this, he worked for the

Office of War Information The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a United States government agency created during World War II. The OWI operated from June 1942 until September 1945. Through radio broadcasts, newspapers, posters, photographs, films and other ...

writing air-drop leaflets to convince German soldiers to give up the war effort. In addition, he wrote some papers on German

military psychology Military psychology is a specialization within psychology that applies psychological science to promote the readiness of military members, organizations, and operations. Military psychologists provide support to the military in many ways, includ ...

. He came to the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the United ...

at Burlington (UVM) in 1947. In 1958, Heinz Ansbacher took over the editorship of ''The Individual Psychology News'' and renamed the periodical the ''Journal of Individual Psychology'' - much to the satisfaction of Adlerians outside the USA. Under his editorship, which continued until 1974, the journal maintained high academic standards and was devoted to "a holistic, phenomenological, teleological, field theoretical, and socially oriented approach to psychology and related fields" endeavoring to "continue the tradition of Alfred Adler's Individual Psychology".

Works and honors

Heinz and Rowena Ansbacher both worked directly with Alfred Adler as scholars and editors and are considered among the leading early followers of

Classical Adlerian psychology Individual psychology (german: Individualpsychologie) is a psychological method or science founded by the Viennese psychiatrist Alfred Adler. The English edition of Adler's work on the subject (1925) is a collection of papers and lectures given mai ...

. Their major contribution, ''The Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler'' (1956), is still the definitive text on

individual psychology Individual psychology (german: Individualpsychologie) is a psychological method or science founded by the Viennese psychiatrist Alfred Adler. The English edition of Adler's work on the subject (1925) is a collection of papers and lectures given mai ...

and is still in print. They also authored ''Superiority and Social Interest'' (1964) and ''Cooperation Between the Sexes'' (1978). Ansbacher said his collaboration with his wife Rowena was what really made the work so successful. They were jointly awarded the degree of

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Docto ...

, ''Honoris Causa'' by UVM in 1980.

Family

Heinz and Rowena Ansbacher were the parents of Charles Ansbacher (1942-2010), founder and conductor of the Boston Landmarks Orchestra, which gives free classical music concerts at various locations in the

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

area.Grace Notes
Geoff Edgers, ''Boston Globe'', August 9, 2002. Accessed on line November 20, 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ansbacher 1904 births 2006 deaths Teachers College, Columbia University alumni 20th-century American psychologists American centenarians Men centenarians People of the United States Office of War Information German emigrants to the United States