Leo Kanner
Encyclopedia
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
and physician known for his work related to autism
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
. Kanner's work formed the foundation of child and adolescent psychiatry
Child and adolescent psychiatry
The branch of psychiatry that specializes in the study, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of psychopathological disorders of children, adolescents, and their families, child and adolescent psychiatry encompasses the clinical investigation of phenomenology, biologic factors, psychosocial factors,...
in the U.S. and worldwide.
Kanner was born in Klekotow (now Klekotiv), a small village north of Brody
Brody
Brody is a city in the Lviv Oblast of western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Brody Raion , and is located in the valley of the upper Styr River, approximately 90 kilometres northeast of the oblast capital, Lviv...
(Galicia) in Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
(now in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
) to an orthodox Jewish family. He studied at the University of Berlin from 1913, his studies broken by service with the Austrian Army in World War I, finally receiving his M.D.
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
in 1921. He emigrated to the United States in 1924 to take a position as an Assistant Physician at the State Hospital in Yankton County, South Dakota
Yankton County, South Dakota
Yankton County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2010 census, the population was 22,438. It's county seat is Yankton.Yankton County is the only county in the Yankton Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
. In 1930 he was selected by Adolf Meyer
Adolf Meyer
Adolf Meyer may refer to:*Adolf Bernard Meyer , German anthropologist and ornithologist*Adolf Meyer , Swiss psychiatrist*Adolf Meyer , German architect-See also:...
and Edward Park to develop the first child psychiatry service in a pediatric hospital at Johns Hopkins Hospital
Johns Hopkins Hospital
The Johns Hopkins Hospital is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland . It was founded using money from a bequest by philanthropist Johns Hopkins...
, Baltimore. He became Associate Professor of Psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
in 1933.
In academical means, he was the first physician in the world to be identified as a child psychiatrist, founder of the first academic child psychiatry department at Johns Hopkins University Hospital and his first textbook, Child Psychiatry in 1935, was the first English language textbook to focus on the psychiatric problems of children. His seminal 1943 paper, "Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact", together with the work of Hans Asperger
Hans Asperger
Hans Asperger was an Austrian pediatrician, after whom Asperger syndrome was named. He wrote over 300 publications, mostly concerning autism in children.-Biography:...
, forms the basis of the modern study of autism.
He became Director of Child Psychiatry at The Johns Hopkins Hospital
Johns Hopkins Hospital
The Johns Hopkins Hospital is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland . It was founded using money from a bequest by philanthropist Johns Hopkins...
in 1930. He retired in 1959 and was replaced as Chief of Child Psychiatry by Leon Eisenberg
Leon Eisenberg
Leon Eisenberg was a child psychiatrist, social psychiatrist and medical educator who . He was credited with a number of "firsts" in medicine and psychiatry - in child psychiatry, autism, and the controversies around autism, randomized clinical trials , social medicine, global health, affirmative...
.
Leo Kanner was the Editor for Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
The Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders publishes 10 issues per year and is a scholarly journal focusing on all aspects of autism spectrum disorders and related developmental disabilities....
, then called Journal of Autism and Childhood Schizophrenia, from 1971 till 1974.
Kanner remained active until his death at the age of 86, two months short of his 87th birthday.
Papers
Books
- 1928 Folklore of the Teeth
- 1935 Child Psychiatry
- 1941 In Defense of Mothers. How to Bring Up Children In Spite of the More Zealous Psychologists
- 1973 Childhood Psychosis: Initial Studies and New Insights
Obituaries for Leo Kanner
- L. Bender: In Memoriam Leo Kanner, MD June 13, 1894—April 4, 1981. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 1982, 21 (1): 88-89.
- E. Schopler, S. Chess, L. EisenbergLeon EisenbergLeon Eisenberg was a child psychiatrist, social psychiatrist and medical educator who . He was credited with a number of "firsts" in medicine and psychiatry - in child psychiatry, autism, and the controversies around autism, randomized clinical trials , social medicine, global health, affirmative...
: Our Memorial to Leo Kanner. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, September 1981, 11: 257-269. - D. Wilk: In Memoriam Dr. Leo Kanner, 1894-1981. Koroth, Jerusalem, August 1982, 8: 213-220.
- K.-J. Neumärker: Leo Kanner: His Years in Berlin, 1906-24. The Roots of Autistic Disorder. History of Psychiatry, Chalfont St. Giles, Bucks, England, June 2003, 14 (2): 205-218 (14).
- L. EisenbergLeon EisenbergLeon Eisenberg was a child psychiatrist, social psychiatrist and medical educator who . He was credited with a number of "firsts" in medicine and psychiatry - in child psychiatry, autism, and the controversies around autism, randomized clinical trials , social medicine, global health, affirmative...
: Leo Kanner, M. D. 1894-1981. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 1981, 138 (8): 1122-1125. - L. EisenbergLeon EisenbergLeon Eisenberg was a child psychiatrist, social psychiatrist and medical educator who . He was credited with a number of "firsts" in medicine and psychiatry - in child psychiatry, autism, and the controversies around autism, randomized clinical trials , social medicine, global health, affirmative...
: Leo Kanner, 1894-1981. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 1994, 151(5): 751.