Best Known For:
Birth and Death:
- Erik Erikson was born June 15, 1902.
- He died May 12, 1994.
Childhood:
Erik Erikson was born June 15, 1902 in Frankfurt, Germany. His father, a Danish man, abandoned the family before he was born. His young Jewish mother raised Erik by herself for a time before marrying a physician, Dr. Theodor Homberger. The fact that Homberger was not in fact his biological father was concealed from him for many years. When he finally did learn the truth, he was left with a feeling of confusion about who he really was.
His interest in identity developed early on in life based upon his own experiences in school. At his temple school, the other children teased him for being Nordic because he was tall, blonde and blue-eyed. At grammar school, he was rejected because of his Jewish background. These early experiences helped spark his interest in identity formation and continued to influence his work throughout his life.
Career:
After spending some time traveling throughout Europe, Erik Erikson studied psychoanalysis with Anna Freud and earned a certificate from the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society.
Erikson moved to the United States in 1933 and was offered a teaching position at Harvard Medical School. He also changed his name from Erik Homberger to Erik H. Erikson, perhaps as a way to forge is own identity. In addition to his position at Harvard, he also had a private practice in child psychoanalysis. Later, he held teaching positions at the University of California at Berkeley, Yale, the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute, Austen Riggs Center, and the Center for Advanced Studies of the Behavioral Sciences.He published a number of books on his theories and research, including Childhood and Society and The Life Cycle Completed. His book Gandhi's Truth was awarded a Pulitzer Prize and a national Book Award.
Contributions to Psychology:
Erik Erikson spent time studying the cultural life of the Sioux of South Dakota and the Yurok of northern California. He utilized the knowledge he gained of cultural, environmental and social influences to further develop his psychoanalytic theory.While Freud’s theory had focused on the psychosexual aspects of development, Erikson’s addition of other influences helped to broaden and expand psychoanalytic theory. He also contributed to our understanding of personality as it is developed and shaped over the course of the lifespan.
His son, Kai T. Erikson, is a noted American sociologist.
Select Publications by Erik Erickson:
- Erikson, E.H. (1950). Childhood and Society. New York: Norton.
- Erikson, E.H. (1968). Identity: Youth and Crisis. New York: Norton.
- Erikson, E.H. (1975). Life History and the Historical Moment. New York: Norton.
- Erikson, E.H. (1996). Dialogue With Erik Erikson. Richard I. Evans (Ed.), Jason Aronson.
Biographies of Erik Erickson:
- Friedman, L. J. (1999). Identity's Architect; A Biography of Erik H. Erikson. Scribner Book Co.
- Coles, R. (1970). Erik H. Erikson: The Growth of His Work. Boston: Little, Brown.
