Armand M. Nicholi Jr. (October 18, 1927 – June 22, 2017) was a clinical professor of

psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of deleterious mental disorder, mental conditions. These include matters related to cognition, perceptions, Mood (psychology), mood, emotion, and behavior. ...

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

and the

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is a teaching hospital located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the original and largest clinical education and research facility of Harvard Medical School/Harvar ...

. His clinical work and research focused on the impact of absent parents on the emotional development of children and young adults. He was the editor and coauthor of the classic ''The Harvard Guide to Psychiatry'' (3rd edition, 1999). He was also a founding board member of the

Family Research Council The Family Research Council (FRC) is an American evangelical 501(c)(3) non-profit activist group and think-tank with an affiliated lobbying organization. FRC promotes what it considers to be family values. It opposes and lobbies against access ...

Biography

Nicholi was born in

Johnson City, New York Johnson City is a village in Broome County, New York, United States. The population was 15,343 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Binghamton Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village of Johnson City is in the town of Union and is a part ...

on October 18, 1927, to Armand and Mary ( Nitto) Nicholi. He had an older sister Constance and younger sister Maryann. He graduated from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

and

New York Medical College New York Medical College (NYMC or New York Med) is a Private university, private medical school in Valhalla, New York. Founded in 1860, it is a member of the Touro University System. NYMC offers advanced degrees through its three schools: the ...

. He intended a career In neurosurgery so he began his internship at Cornell Surgical Division at Bellevue Hospital. After a year, he switched to psychiatry. He taught a course on

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...

and

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

and the Harvard Medical School for more than 35 years. For 15 years he served as the psychiatrist for the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

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(football) team. He also had an active practice and served as a consultant to government groups, corporations, and professional athletes. He was married, with two children, and lived in Concord,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

until his death on June 22, 2017, at his home in

Concord, Massachusetts Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. In the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is n ...

, aged 89.

Bibliography

* ''The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life'' (2002). Free Press, New York: Simon & Schuster; .
''The Question of God''

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

TV series.

References

1927 births 2017 deaths American psychiatrists Harvard Medical School faculty Cornell University alumni New York Medical College alumni People from Johnson City, New York American people of Italian descent {{US-psychiatrist-stub