Kurt Goldstein
Kurt Goldstein was born on November 6, 1878.  He came from a German-Jewish family, growing up in what is now known as Poland.  Goldstein received his medical degree from the University of Breslau in 1903, and his doctoral topic was on the posterior columns of the spinal cord.  In the 1930's, after spending time working with brain-damaged soldiers from World War I as patients, he emigrated from Germany to the United States where he lived and worked until his death. (Nature Institute, n.d.)  By the time Goldstein arrived in the United States, He was already well-developed in neuroanatomy and psychiatry, and his book, he Organism, had been published in 1934.  The book was republished in 1939 in the United States.  Many say the book was the highlight of his career.
Goldstein's book discussed his views on how the organism is a system that struggles to cope with the challenges of the environment and itself.  He believed the organism could not be divided into "mind" and "body" because nothing is independent within the organism.  It is the whole that reacts to the environment. (Scaruffi, 2.)  Goldstein also goes on to explain the holistic approaches of healing not coming through "repair" but adaptation.  An organism cannot return to the state it was before the event changed it, it must adapt to the new conditions caused by the new state.  He also emphasized the ability of the organism to react and adjust to catasrophic situations of mental or physical functions. (Scaruffi,  3)
Goldstein's concepts of biological knowledge, self-actualization and abstract thinking allowed him to challenge approaches to "localized" symptoms, such as certain parts of the brain being affected and where reflexes stem from.  (Zeitlinger, 70)  He also influenced many within gestalt psychology.  Throughout Goldstein's career, he taught at the Universities of Frankfurt, Berlin, Columbia, Harvard and Brandeis, and Tufts Medical School before starting his private practice.  He also Praciced neurological and psychiatric medicine in hospitals in Europe and the United States. (Duchan, n.d.)
Kurt Goldstein died on September 19, 1965.

Duchan, J. Kurt Goldstein (1878-1965). History of Speech Pathology in America. Retrieved on October 20 2003 from: http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~duchan/history-subpages/kurtgoldstein.html

Scaruffi, P. (2000) Kurt Goldstin:  The Organism:  A Holistic Approach to Biology. Retrieved on October 20 2003 from: http://www.thymos.com/mind/goldsti.html

The Nature Institute. Kurt Goldstein ( A Biographical Note) Retrieved on October 21 2003 from: http://www.praxagora.com/stevet/netfuture/ni/ic/ic2/goldstein-bio.html

Zeitlinger, S. (2001) Kurt Goldstein A Philosophical Scientist. Journal of the History of the Neurosciences. 10, (1), pp.67-78.
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Name: Kate Patterson
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