Norman Sartorius (born 1935) is a German-

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n psychiatrist and university professor. Sartorius is a former director of the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

's (WHO) Division of Mental Health, and a former president of the

World Psychiatric Association The World Psychiatric Association (WPA) is an international Umbrella organization, umbrella organisation of psychiatric societies. Objectives and goals Originally created to produce world psychiatric congresses, it has evolved to hold regional ...

and of the

European Psychiatric Association The European Psychiatric Association (EPA) is the main association representing psychiatry in Europe. History The EPA was founded in October 1983 as the Association of European Psychiatrists (AEP), at the University of Strasbourg, by twelve Frenc ...

. He has been described as "one of the most prominent and influential psychiatrists of his generation" and as a "living legend".

Biography

Sartorius was born in

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

, Germany but grew up in

Koprivnica Koprivnica () is a city in Northern Croatia, located 70 kilometers northeast of Zagreb. It is the capital and the largest city of Koprivnica-Križevci County. In 2011, the city's administrative area of 90.94 km2 had a total populati ...

and

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

, Croatia raised by his mother, Professor Feđa Fischer-Sartorius, a renowned pediatrician. Sartorius obtained his

M.D. A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...

from the

School of Medicine, University of Zagreb The School of Medicine ( or MEF) in Zagreb is a Croatian medical school affiliated with the University of Zagreb. It is the oldest and biggest of the four medical schools in Croatia (the other three being in Osijek, Rijeka and Split), having bee ...

in 1958, and his B.Sc. and M.A. in psychology from the

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences or the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb ( Croatian: ''Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu'') is one of the faculties of the University of Zagreb. History The Faculty of Philosophy is the oldes ...

in 1962. He finished his specialization in psychiatry and neurology in 1963 and defended his Ph.D. thesis in psychology at the University of Zagreb in 1965. After obtaining his Ph.D., and passing the speciality examinations for Neurology and Psychiatry Sartorius spent two years at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

on a

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

stipend. In 1967, Sartorius was invited to join the WHO. and became the Head of the WHO Interregional Advisory Team on Epidemiology of Mental Disorders. He then took the position of Medical Officer responsible for epidemiological and social psychiatry and in 1974 at WHO Headquarters became the Chief of the Mental Health Unit. In 1977 he was appointed Director of the Division of Mental Health of WHO, a position which he held until 1993. He served as the President of the

(1993–1999) and of the

(1997–2001). Sartorius became a professor at the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

in 1993. Sartorius also held professorships at the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...

and University of Prague. He has worked as an honorary visiting or adjunct professor at the

, Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris, the University of Beijing,

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

, the New York University, the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...

and the University of Florida. He is a senior faculty member at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in the Mental Health Department. Sartorius is a Fellow of the British

Royal Society of Medicine The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) is a medical society based at 1 Wimpole Street, London, UK. It is a registered charity, with admission through membership. Its Chief Executive is Michele Acton. History The Royal Society of Medicine (R ...

, Honorary Fellow European Association of Social Psychiatry, member of Medical Academies in Croatia, Mexico and Peru, and a corresponding member of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Spain and of the Croatian Academy of Arts and sciences, ''

Honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

'' Doctor of Medicine of the

Umeå University Umeå University (; Ume Sami language, Ume Sami: ) is a public university, public research university located in Umeå, in the mid-northern region of Sweden. The university was founded in 1965 and is the fifth oldest within Sweden's present bord ...

, of the Timișoara/Temisvar University Victor Babes and of the

Charles University in Prague Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the oldest universities in the world in continuous operation, the oldest university north of the ...

. He is also an Honorary Doctor of Science of the

University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

in 1990, the University of Florida (2015) and an honorary doctor of psychology of the University of Copenhagen. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the

American Psychiatric Association The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the largest psychiatric organization in the world. It has more than 39,200 members who are in ...

, an Honorary Fellow of the

Royal College of Psychiatrists The Royal College of Psychiatrists is the main professional organisation of psychiatrists in the United Kingdom, and is responsible for representing psychiatrists, for psychiatric research and for providing public information about mental healt ...

of the United Kingdom, of the

Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) is the principal organisation representing the medical specialty of psychiatry in Australia and New Zealand and has responsibility for training, examining and awarding the qua ...

, of the

and of the World Psychiatric Association. He is a Fellow or an honorary member of numerous other professional organizations.

Scientific work

Sartorius' work dealt with

epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and Risk factor (epidemiology), determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent dise ...

of mental disorders and

social psychiatry Social psychiatry is a branch of psychiatry that studies how the social environment impacts mental health and mental illness. It applies a cultural and societal lens on mental health by focusing on mental illness prevention, community-based care, m ...

with public health matters as well as with various issues related to

schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

, depression, and health service delivery. Major themes in his current work and public activity are rights of patients with mental disorders and struggle against stigma and

prejudice Prejudice can be an affect (psychology), affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived In-group and out-group, social group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classifi ...

s associated with

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

, comorbidity of mental and physical illness education in psychiatry and improvement of mental health services.Sartorius N. (2002) Fighting for Mental Health, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; English: 256p, () (also published in Korean by Hakjisa Publisher (2006), 318p, (); in French, Odile Jacob, Paris (2010), (); in Serbo-Croatian (2009), Pro Mente Profil, 252p (), in German “Seelische Gesundheit: Standort und Perspektiven” (2012), (), Schattauer GmbH, Stuttgart and in Japanese (2013)() He has conducted more than 150 Leadership and Professional Skills courses involving more than 2000 early career psychiatrists from more than 60 countries. Between 1961 and 2022, Sartorius published more than 500 papers in peer reviewed journals and more than 800 technical contributions, prefaces to books, interviews and brief articles. According to the

Web of Science The Web of Science (WoS; previously known as Web of Knowledge) is a paid-access platform that provides (typically via the internet) access to multiple databases that provide reference and citation data from academic journals, conference proceedi ...

, Sartorius' articles have been cited more than 47.000 times, and his ''h''-index is 110. He has authored, co-authored or edited more than 120 books.

Awards

* 1980 Rema Lapouse Award * 2002 Harvard Award in Psychiatric Epidemiology and Statistics * 2003 Burgholzli award for Clinical and Social Psychiatry * 2005

Prince Mahidol Award The Prince Mahidol Award () is an annual award for outstanding achievements in medicine and public health worldwide. The award is given by the Prince Mahidol Award Foundation, which was founded by the Thai Royal Family in 1992. Prince Mahidol ...

in Medicine * 2007 GAMIAN European Personality Award * 2012 Eli Lilly Welcome Back Award * 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Royal College of Psychiatrists * 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award and Zirovcic medal by the Croatian Psychiatric Society * 2016 Wilhelm-Griesinger Prize from the German Association for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics * 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award, Asian Federation of Psychiatric Associations

Personal life

Sartorius currently lives in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

and Zagreb with his wife Vera. They have been married since 1963 and have a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sartorius, Norman 1935 births Croatian psychiatrists Croatian public health doctors Croatian people of German descent School of Medicine, University of Zagreb alumni Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb alumni Physicians from Zagreb Academic staff of the University of Geneva Academic staff of the University of Zagreb World Health Organization officials Croatian expatriates in Switzerland Living people Yugoslav officials of the United Nations Presidents of the European Psychiatric Association Academic staff of Charles University Academics of the University of London Academic staff of Paris-Sorbonne University Academic staff of Peking University Washington University in St. Louis faculty New York University faculty Academic staff of the University of Belgrade University of Florida faculty Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health faculty