Joost Meerloo
Encyclopedia
Joost Abraham Maurits Meerloo (March 14, 1903 – November 17, 1976) was a Dutch Doctor of Medicine
and psychoanalyst.
Born as Abraham Maurits 'Bram' Meerloo in The Hague, Netherlands, he came to United States in 1946, was naturalized in 1950, and resumed Dutch citizenship in 1972. Dr. Meerloo was a practicing psychiatrist
for over forty years. He did staff psychiatric work in Holland
and worked as a general practitioner until 1942 under Nazi occupation
, when he assumed the name Joost to fool the occupying forces and in 1942 fled to England (after barely eluding death at the hands of the Germans). He was chief of the Psychological Department of the Dutch Army-in-Exile in England.
After the war he served as High Commissioner for Welfare in Holland
, and was an advisor to UNRRA and SHAEF. An American citizen since 1950, Dr. Meerloo was a member of the faculty at Columbia University
and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the New York School of Psychiatry. He was the author of many books, including Rape of the Mind, the classic work on brainwashing, Conversation and Communication, and Hidden Communion.
He was the son of Bernard and Anna (Benjamins) Meerloo. He married Louisa Betty Duits (a physical therapist), May 7, 1948.
Education: University of Leiden, M.D., 1927; University of Utrecht, Ph.D., 1932.
Meerloo specialized in the area of thought control techniques used by totalitarian regimes.
"And yet one day men will have to grow up. Compared with the long ages of human existence on earth, our civilization is in its infancy. Sooner or later we must be ready to leave the dreamland of childhood, where imagination finds unlimited scope, and take our place in a world of limited freedoms. That world however, can in the long run give us something better than any vision conjured up in childhood." – Total War and the Human Mind, 1944.
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
and psychoanalyst.
Born as Abraham Maurits 'Bram' Meerloo in The Hague, Netherlands, he came to United States in 1946, was naturalized in 1950, and resumed Dutch citizenship in 1972. Dr. Meerloo was a practicing psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
for over forty years. He did staff psychiatric work in Holland
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and worked as a general practitioner until 1942 under Nazi occupation
Occupation
Occupation may refer to:*Job , a regular activity performed for payment, that occupies one's time**Employment, a person under service of another by hire**Career, a course through life**Profession, a vocation founded upon specialized training...
, when he assumed the name Joost to fool the occupying forces and in 1942 fled to England (after barely eluding death at the hands of the Germans). He was chief of the Psychological Department of the Dutch Army-in-Exile in England.
After the war he served as High Commissioner for Welfare in Holland
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, and was an advisor to UNRRA and SHAEF. An American citizen since 1950, Dr. Meerloo was a member of the faculty at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the New York School of Psychiatry. He was the author of many books, including Rape of the Mind, the classic work on brainwashing, Conversation and Communication, and Hidden Communion.
He was the son of Bernard and Anna (Benjamins) Meerloo. He married Louisa Betty Duits (a physical therapist), May 7, 1948.
Education: University of Leiden, M.D., 1927; University of Utrecht, Ph.D., 1932.
Meerloo specialized in the area of thought control techniques used by totalitarian regimes.
Quotes
"This is the lesson we have to learn, that of the two types of courage, that which consists in living is greater than that which aims at dying. We have to learn that sacrifice of one's life, though it may be a necessary means to an end, is not an end in itself. As a free people, we must choose the affirmative courage of life, not the negative sacrifice of death." – Total War and the Human Mind, 1944."And yet one day men will have to grow up. Compared with the long ages of human existence on earth, our civilization is in its infancy. Sooner or later we must be ready to leave the dreamland of childhood, where imagination finds unlimited scope, and take our place in a world of limited freedoms. That world however, can in the long run give us something better than any vision conjured up in childhood." – Total War and the Human Mind, 1944.
Sources
- Biography Resource Center
- Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2002
- Publisher's notes on dust cover Along the Fourth Dimension: Man's Sense of Time and History (1970, The John Day Company)
External links
- Quotes by Joost Meerloo. Zaadz.com.
- Rape of the Mind (full online text of the 1956 World Publishing Company edition of The Rape of the Mind)
- Delusion and Mass-Delusion (full online text of the 1949 NMD Monographs first printing, 1949 Delusion and Mass-Delusion)