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Hans J. Eysenck

Hans J. Eysenck was born in Berlin, Germany on March 4, 1916. His was a family of celebrities. His father Eduard Eysenck was a singer and an accomplished actor who specialized in comedy. His mother Ruth Eysenck, whose stage name was Helga Molander worked in silent films. They planned a glamorous career in the entertainment field for Hans, who played a small role in a motion picture in his childhood. However, like many a Hollywood marriage then and today, Eysenck's parents divorced when he was young, later to marry other show business people.

Because of his mother's work and new liaison, Eysenck was brought up in London by his maternal grandmother who was once an opera singer.

His biographer H. B. Gibson writes about him :

"Living in his grandmother's flat in London, Hans appears to have had a very free upbringing: in fairly comfortable circumstances surrounded by literary and cultural influences:He seems to have been a precocious and self-willed boy, well-accustomed to having his own way."

Early Education

He received his early education in Bismarck Gymnasium and Friedrich Wilhelm Real Gymnasium in Berlin, Germany. In 1930, he also attended a boarding school on the Isle of Wight.

Leaving German Shores

Refusing to join the Nazi Party to attend college, he left Germany at the age of 18. Also as an active Jewish sympathizer, Han's life was in danger there.

He first went to France where he studied French History and Literature. But because he liked English poetry and writing more than the French, he went on to London, where he studied British history and literature at Exeter University. One of Eysenck's tasks then was to bring out of Germany as much of the family fortune as possible and to take care of his grandmother, Frau Werner, who had been disabled. He enrolled at Pitman's college to prepare for London matriculation examination in French, Mathematics, English and Physics.

Twist of Fate

Eysenck decided that he wanted to become a physicist, so he enrolled at the University of London. While registering, he was informed that German science credits were not acceptable for admission. When he asked if any science subject was open, he was told to try psychology.

Thus, by a quirk of fate he took up psychology. He once claimed he did not even know what psychology was. He came to realize that competition in physics was much fiercer than in psychology. So he felt that the fateful decision might have been for the best. He heartily accepted the subject and fell in love with it.

Eysenck was fortunate in being able to study under Sir Cyril Burt, the noted psychologist, one of the early advocates of statistical studies. The legendary statistician Karl Pearson was also one of Eysenck's professors during his graduation. Eysenck graduated in 1938 and later completed his doctorate under Sir Cyril Burt in 1940 on The Psychology of Aesthetics.

After obtaining his Ph.D. from the University of London, during World War II, he worked as research psychologist at the Mill Hill Emergency Hospital near London. This hospital treated mentally disturbed service personnel.

After the war, he joined the staff of London's famed Maudsley Hospital, which was perhaps Britain's leading institution in psychiatric training. He became head of the hospital's psychology department, and in the next year (1948), joined the faculty of the University of London. Subsequently in 1950, he became the head of the university's new psychiatric institute, located at Maudsley Hospital.

In addition to his work in Britain, he served as visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Berkeley in USA.

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