Kazimierz Dabrowski: A brief biography.

W. Tillier Calgary, Alberta. October, 2000.

Dabrowski Biography Kazimierz Dabrowski: Born September 1, 1902, Lublin, Poland. His father was an agricultural administrator. One of four children, Kazimierz had one older and one younger brother, and a younger sister. She died of meningitis at three (he was then six). Although interrupted by the war, he had a traditional, Roman Catholic education.

Dabrowski Biography Dabrowski describes his heightened excitability as a youth and the profound impact of wartime experiences on his development and on the development of his theory (from
Piechowski, 1975).

Dabrowski described two lines of impact: seeing those close to him harmed and seeing large numbers of people harmed. Wartime experiences juxtaposed inhuman humans with those of great courage and character and thus gave a vivid panorama of a scale of values from the lowest to the highest. As a teenager in WWI he directly observed the aftermath of a major battle, seeing several hundred dead soldiers (in a field not far from his home).

Dabrowski Biography Attended university in Lublin, studied psychology, philosophy & literature. 1924, went to Warsaw and completed an M.A. at Poznan. 1928-29, studied psychology and education in Geneva under Edouard Claparde (1873-1940) a fellow student was Jean Piaget (1886-1980) (Dabrowski, 1964). 1929, received his M.D. at the University of Geneva (Dabrowski, 1964) Thesis entitled Le Conditions Psychological de Suicide.

Dabrowski Biography 1929, Pedagogical certificate, University of Geneva (Certificat de Pedagogie, Universite de Geneve, Faculte de Lettres). (C. V.). 1930, studied with Karl Beuler and Charlotte Beuler. 1930, obtained psychoanalytic training and analysis in Vienna, Austria, under Wilhelm Stekel (1868-1940), and had additional training in clinical psychology and child psychiatry in Paris and Boston. (Dabrowski, 1964). 1931, Certificate in Psychoanalytic Studies, Vienna (under Wilhelm Stekel) (C. V.).
Met most of the great psychoanalytic personalities, including Freud.

Dabrowski Biography 1931, studied child psychiatry in Paris, under George Heuyer (1884-1977) (at Vaugirard), attended lectures by P. Janet (1859-1947) (at Claude) (Dabrowski, 1964). 1931, second M. D. degree, U. of Poznan. (C. V.). 1931-33, lecturer in child psychology and psychopathology, Free Polish University, Warsaw (C. V.). 1932, PhD, experimental psychology, U. of Poznan
(Dabrowski, 1964). (although, c. v. states: Ph.D. in Psychology, University of Poznan, 1931).

1933-1934, Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship. Boston Psychopathic Hospital, studied under C. Macfie Campbell (hospital director), & William Healy, Director, Judge Baker Foundation (Dabrowski, 1964).

Dabrowski Biography 1934, Certificate of the School of Public Health, Harvard, (C. V.). 1934, a Privat Docent, in child psychiatry, University of Geneva (Faculty of Science, Habilitation in Childrens Psychopathology) under Edouard Claparde
(1873-1940)
(Dabrowski, 1964 and C. V.).

1934, published his first major work, Behaviorism and Other Currents in Psychotherapy, (in Polish). 1935-1948, (except for the German occupation), was the director of the Polish State Mental Hygiene Institute and High school for Mental Hygiene in Warsaw which had been organized with the aid of the Rockefeller Foundation (Dabrowski, 1964).

Dabrowski Biography 1937, "The Psychological Basis of Self-Mutilation" appeared in Genetic Psych. Monographs. C. M. Campbell assisted and wrote a preface. First major exposure to North America. 1937-38, in contact with an Anthroposophy association (Steiner/Waldorf schools) in England (Alice Baily). Other interests included parapsychology, Eastern studies and meditation. 1939, Germans closed the Institute of Mental Health in Poland. Details of the years concerning WW2 are sketchy: Aronson says of the 400 Polish psychiatrists practising before the war . . . only 38 survived. (Dabrowski, 1964).

Dabrowski Biography Younger brother killed in 1941, older brother captured in the Warsaw Insurrection and sent to a concentration camp. During the war, Dabrowski was held prisoner a number of times.
His wartime experiences and his own near death had a profound impact.

1942, married Eugenia in Warsaw. 1942-1945 ran a secret institute for pedagogical work for 200 children in the forests (Institute for Tuberculosis). 1944-45, Professor of psychology and general psychiatry, School of Medicine, Warsaw University (C. V.).

Dabrowski Biography 1946-49, Professor of child psychiatry and mental hygiene in the school of Advanced studies in Mental Hygiene, Warsaw (C. V.). 1948, United Nations Grant for studies in neuropsychiatry, New York and Chicago (C. V.). 1948, Habilitation in Psychiatry, U. of Wroclaw (Breslau)
(C. V.).

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~1949, the Polish Government closed the Institute and declared Dabrowski persona non grata. Imprisoned with wife for 18 months. 1951-1954, Head of the Department of Child Neuropsychiatry and one of womens departments of the Psychiatric Hospital, Kobierzyn (C. V.).

Dabrowski Biography 1954-1956, Chief Consultant for neurological and psychiatric cases in the Union of the Sanatoria for Tuberculosis, in W. Pstrowski Sanatorium, and in State Health Resorts in Rabka, Poland (C. V.). 1956, he was declared rehabilitated. Held professorship in Experimental Psychology, Academy of Catholic Theology, Warsaw (C. V.). 1958-64, Director of the Institute of Mental Hygiene and Child Psychiatry, Professor of Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw (C. V.).

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Dabrowski Biography 1962, Ford Foundation Fellowship for studies and research at Harvard Medical School, New York University, and Northwestern University (C. V.). ~1962, in America, met A. Maslow (1908-1970) at Brandeis University. Dabrowski was invited to give a lecture, the two became friends. 1963, Grant from the Centre National de Reserches Scientifiques, Paris, for research at Henri Roussel Hospital and lectures at the child clinic of professor Michaux, La Salpetriere, Paris (C. V.). 1964, worked with Jason Aronson, who translated, edited and wrote the introduction to Positive Disintegration (Little Brown).

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Dabrowski Biography 1964, Went to Montreal and took a position at a hospital there. 1967, collaborations (with students of Dr. A. Kawczak) in Quebec lead to Personality Shaping, (Little Brown). 1968, presented a paper at Esalen, California (Dabrowski gave many invited lectures at various conferences). Formed a liaison with Laval University in Montreal. Formed a liaison with the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Subsequently divided his time between Alberta, Quebec and Poland.

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Dabrowski Biography 1969-1972, Canada Council grants. Worked to operationalize the theory (several collaborative grant applications in the early 1970s). Collaborations were undertaken with several students and colleagues in Edmonton, including Marlene Rankel, Dexter Amend and Michael Piechowski [initially he was a microbiologist] and with Andrzej (Andrew) Kawczak, Philosophy Department, Loyola College of Montreal. Several books were printed or published as a result:
1970: Mental Growth Through Positive Disintegration. 1972: Psychoneurosis is not an Illness. 1973: Dynamics of Concepts. 1977: Theory of Levels of Emotional Development. 1996: Multilevelness of emotional and instinctive functions.

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Dabrowski Biography In summary, published some 400 articles and about 20 books in Polish. Also published material in French, German and Spanish. Various books were printed or published in his last language, English.

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Several major conferences were held on the theory:

First International Conference on the Theory of Positive Disintegration. August 26-30, 1970, Laval University, Department of Psychology, Quebec. Second International Conference on Positive Disintegration. December 27-31, 1972, Loyola College, Montreal. Third International Conference on the Theory of Positive Disintegration. November 7-11, 1980, University of Miami, School of Medicine, Miami, Florida.

A series of conferences have also been held over the past 20 years.

Dabrowski Biography Dr. Dabrowski passed away in Aleksandrow, Poland, 11/26/80. Ms. Dabrowski passed away 10/24/98. They were survived by two daughters. References:
Dabrowski, K. (1964). Positive Disintegration. New York: Little Brown and Co. Piechowski, M. M. (1975). A Theoretical and Empirical Approach to the Study of Development, Genetic Psychology Monographs, 92, 231-297. [material from the forward by Dabrowski] Undated and unpublished curriculum vitae distributed by Dabrowski. Material not referenced here is from an earlier biography I assembled: Tillier, W. (1992). A biographical sketch of Dabrowski. Unpublished manuscript.

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Dabrowski Biography

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A major biography of Dabrowski was written in 2002 by Marge Battaglia Kaminski and is the definitive source available today. Reference: Battaglia Kaminski, M. M. (2002). A hermeneutic historical study of Kazimierz Dabrowski and his Theory of Positive Disintegration. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Falls Church, Virginia.