Boris Sidis, Ph.D., M.D. (
October 12,
1867 -
October 24,
1923) was a
Russian Jewish psychologist,
physician,
psychiatrist, and
philosopher of education. Sidis
founded the New York State Psychopathic Institute and the
Journal of Abnormal
Psychology. He was the father of the
child prodigy William James Sidis. Boris Sidis
eventually opposed mainstream
psychology
and
Sigmund Freud, and thereby died
ostracized.
Life
Born in
Ukraine, he emigrated to the U.S.
in 1887 to
escape political persecution. Due to the
May Laws, he was imprisoned for at least two years,
according to
William James
Sidis' biographer,
Amy Wallace. He
later credited his ability to think to this long
solitary confinement. His wife, Sarah
Mandelbaum Sidis, M.D., and her family fled the
pogroms about 1889.
Boris completed four degrees at Harvard (a
B.A.,
M.A.,
Ph.D. and
M.D.) and studied under
William James. He was influential in the early
20th century, known for pioneering work in
psychopathology (founding the New York State
Psychopathic Institute and the
Journal of Abnormal
Psychology),
hypnoid/
hypnotic states, and
group psychology. He is also noted for
vigorously applying the
Theory of
Evolution to the study of psychology.
He vehemently opposed
World War I,
viewing war as a social disease, and denigrated the widely held
concept of
eugenics. He sought to provide
insight into why people behave as they do, particularly in cases of
a mob frenzy or religious mania. With the publication of his book
Nervous Ills: Their Cause and Cure in 1922, he summarized
much of his previous work in diagnosing, understanding and treating
nervous disorders. He saw
fear as an underlying cause of much human mental
suffering and problematic behavior.
Sidis applied his own psychological approaches to raising his son,
William James Sidis, in whom he
wished to promote a high intellectual capacity. His son has been
considered among the most intelligent people ever (with a ratio
IQ broadly estimated at 250-300). However, after
receiving much publicity for his childhood feats, he came to live
an eccentric life, and died in relative obscurity. Boris Sidis
himself derided
intelligence
testing as "silly, pedantic, absurd, and grossly
misleading."
With Boris' fulminations against mainstream
psychology and
Sigmund
Freud, he died ostracized by the community he had helped
create.
Partial bibliography
- The Psychology of Suggestion: A Research into the
Subconscious Nature of Man and Society (1898)
- Psychopathological Researches: Studies in Mental
Dissociation (1902)
- Multiple Personality: An Experimental Investigation into
Human Individuality (1904)
- An Experimental Study of Sleep (1909)
- Philistine and
Genius (1911)
- The Psychology of Laughter (1913)
- The
Foundations of Normal and Abnormal Psychology (1914)
- Symptomatology, Psychognosis, and Diagnosis of Psychopathic
Diseases (1914)
- The Causation and Treatment of Psychopathic Diseases
(1916)
- The Source and Aim of Human Progress: A Study in Social
Psychology and Social Pathology (1919)
- Nervous Ills: Their Cause and Cure (1922)
See also
Notes
- Wallace, Amy (1986). The prodigy: a biography of William James
Sidis, America's greatest child prodigy. New York: E.P. Dutton
& Co.. ISBN 0-525-24404-2.
- Foundations of Normal and Abnormal psychology at
www.sidis.net
- Sidis' birthplace is commonly listed as Kiev. However, a
biographical note from his daughter
(http://www.sidis.net/Borisabout.htm) says he was born in "Berditchev," a small town about 150 km SW of
Kiev.
- His writings are available at
http://www.sidis.net/boris_sidis_archives.htm
References
- Wallace, Amy, The prodigy: A biography of William James
Sidis, America's greatest child prodigy, New York: E.P. Dutton
& Co. 1986. ISBN 0-525-24404-2
- "Boris Sidis." Dictionary of American biography base
set. American Council of Learned Societies,
1928-1936. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington
Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2005.
http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC
- See External Links for source of much of the details
of Sidis's life from unpublished archive documents by his wife and
daughter.
External links
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