Elizabeth kubler ross biography

Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross: A Legacy of Compassion, Courage, and Transformation

Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross was born in Zurich, Switzerland, on July 8, 1926, as one of triplet sisters. From a young age, she was determined to pursue a career in medicine, a decision that clashed with her father’s traditional expectations. Yet, her resolve to help others led her to study medicine at the University of Zurich, where she would later meet her future husband, Emanuel “Manny” Robert Ross.

In 1945, after the devastation of World War II, Dr. Kübler-Ross’s path toward studying death and dying began to take shape. As a member of the International Voluntary Service for Peace, she helped rebuild war-torn communities in Eastern Europe. During this time, she visited the Maidanek concentration camp, where she was struck by the haunting symbol of butterflies etched into the walls by prisoners in their final hours. The butterfly, a symbol of transformation, would later become central to her philosophy on death as a beautiful and transformative experience.

After completing her medical education in Zurich, Dr. Kübler-Ross moved to the United States in 1958. She worked in hospitals across New York, Colorado, and Chicago, where she was deeply disturbed by the prevailing attitudes toward dying patients. In a system where the terminally ill were often shunned, ignored, or treated as mere medical cases, she took a radically different approach. She sat with her patients, listening to their fears, hopes, and dreams. “Nobody was honest with them,” she later recalled, “so I made it my mission to listen.” This personal, compassionate approach to death would come to define her life’s work.

In 1969, Dr. Kübler-Ross published her groundbreaking book, On Death and Dying, which introduced the world to her now-famous “fi

Swiss-American psychiatrist (1926–2004)

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (July 8, 1926 – August 24, 2004) was a Swiss-American psychiatrist, a pioneer in near-death studies, and author of the internationally best-selling book, On Death and Dying (1969), where she first discussed her theory of the five stages of grief, also known as the "Kübler-Ross model".

In 1970, Kübler-Ross delivered the Ingersoll Lecture at Harvard University, focusing on her book, On Death and Dying. By July 1982, Kübler-Ross had taught 125,000 students in death and dying courses in colleges, seminaries, medical schools, hospitals, and social-work institutions. In 1999, the New York Public Library named On Death and Dying one of its "Books of the Century," and Time magazine recognized her as one of the "100 Most Important Thinkers" of the 20th century. Throughout her career, Kübler-Ross received over 100 awards, including twenty honorary degrees, and was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2007. In 2024, Simon & Schuster released a list of their 100 most notable books, including Kübler-Ross's On Death & Dying. Stanford University's Green

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D. (July 8, 1926 – August 24, 2004), was a Swiss-born psychiatrist renowned for her pioneering work in Near-Death Studies. Her groundbreaking book On Death and Dying (1969) introduced the Kübler-Ross model, which outlines the Five Stages of Grief®: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. This model has since influenced various fields, including corporate training on change management, as embodied in The Kübler-Ross Change Curve®.

In 1970, Dr. Kübler-Ross delivered the prestigious Ingersoll Lectures on Human Immortality at Harvard University, further exploring themes of death and dying. In the early 1970’s she was one of the founders of the International Work Group on Death, Dying, and Bereavement (IWG). Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, she played a key role in establishing over 50 hospices globally and, in 1984, attempted to launch the world’s first prison hospice in Vacaville, California.

She was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2007 and received twenty honorary degrees over her lifetime. By July 1982, she had taught approximately 125,000 students across various institutions in death and dying courses. After retiring in 1994 following a arson attack on her home—while she was working to establish an AIDS hospice for abandoned babies—she spent her final years in Arizona with her son, Kenneth Ross. During this period, she authored four additional books, including On Grief and Grieving.

Dr. Kübler-Ross passed away in August 2004 at an assisted living center in Scottsdale, Arizona. Over her career, she wrote 24 books translated into 44 languages. Since her death, her contributions have been honored with several prestigious awards. She was posthumously awarded the William C. Menninger Award by the American College of Physicians in 2005 and the Medal of Honor from the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association in 2006. In 2

(1926-2004)

Who Was Elisabeth Kübler-Ross?

Born in 1926, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross wanted to be a doctor but her father forbade it. She left home at 16, was a hospital volunteer in WWII and finally entered medical school in 1951. She studied terminal illness, publishing her groundbreaking book On Death and Dying in 1969. The book outlines the five stages that dying patients experience: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

Early Life

Kübler-Ross was born on July 8, 1926, in Zurich, Switzerland. She had a fragile start in life as a triplet, weighing only two pounds when she and her two other siblings were born. Developing an interest in medicine at a young age, Kübler-Ross encountered intense resistance from her father about her career aspirations. He told her that she could be a secretary in his business or go become a maid.

Defying her family, Kübler-Ross left home at the age of 16 and worked a series of jobs. She also served as a volunteer during World War II, helping out in hospitals and caring for refugees. After the war, Kübler-Ross volunteered to help in numerous war-torn communities. She was profoundly affected by a visit to the Maidanek concentration camp in Poland and the images of hundreds of butterflies carved into some of the walls there. To Kübler-Ross, the butterflies—these final works of art by those facing death—stayed with her for years and influenced her thinking about the end of life.

Kübler-Ross began pursuing her dreams to become a doctor in 1951 as a medical student at the University of Zurich. While there, she met Emanuel Robert Ross, an American medical student. They married in 1958, a year after she graduated, and moved to the United States where they both had internships at Community Hospital in Glen Cove, Long Island. (In 1976, she and her husband divorced, and he died in 1992.) Then she went on to specialize in psychiatry, becoming a resident at Manhattan State Hospital.

Pioneering Psychi