The Oldest Psychobiography in the World? (Psychobiography of Socrates in the Lvov-Warsaw School)

Psychology of the Lvov‐Warsaw School and the shape of postcommunist Polish psychology (unfinished dialog with Brentanian tradition)

“…According to the above, what is encouraging is the fact that in recent years, the philosophical‐psychological tradition of the Lvov‐Warsaw School has been appearing more and more frequently in scientific discourse. It is also becoming an object of research projects and grants, the results of which have been published in English (Bobryk, 2016; Brożek et al, 2015, 2017; Chrudzimski & Łukasiewicz, 2006; Citlak, 2016a, 2019, 2021a, 2021b; Drabarek et al, 2019; Lapointe et al, 2009; Płotka, 2019; Rzepa & Dobroczyński, 2019; Woleński, 2019). What the effect of this will be, history will reveal in due course, although today it already seems to be a significant step towards reactivating the forgotten tradition of Polish psychology.…”

“…The school also produced the world's first theory of striving for a sense of power, that is, W. Witwicki's theory of cratism, which was unfortunately published only in Polish, though several years before Alfred Adler's work (Witwicki, 1900, 1907, 1963; see Citlak, 2016a, 2016b). In 1909, the world's first psychobiography was written in this school, which predates S. Freud's 1910 Psychobiography of Leonardo da Vinci (Citlak, 2021b). Moreover, in 1939, almost 20 years before L. Festinger, a study on religious beliefs was published, including the basic theses of cognitive dissonance theory (Witwicki, 1959; Citlak, 2021a).…”

“…There has also been no attempt to continue historical‐cultural psychology (Citlak, 2016a, 2021a), which had a good chance to be a fully fledged complement and extension of experimental research, similar to the psychology program of the late Wundt (1911‐1920) or Vygotsky (1978). No continuation of psychobiographical research has been conducted (Citlak, 2021b; Witwicki, 1909, 1958). A similar fate befell Witwicki's and Blachowski's original achievements in the psychology of religion—they have not found application in the research of Polish psychologists of religion, apart from in historical memoirs (Grzymała‐Moszczyńska & Hoffmann, 1991, 1998).…”

Psychobiographical trends: Untold stories and international voices in the context of social change

“…Besides a growing number of publications published in the USA, the number of psychobiographies from the South African context (Fouché, 2015; Fouché & van Niekerk, 2010) and Eastern Europe (Citlak, 2021; Kováry, 2011) has grown. The formation of a psychobiography forum of international standing has also taken place over the past 2 years, initiated by: Paul H. Elovitz, Ph.D., Historian, Research Psychoanalyst, Associate Professor at Ramapo College of New Jersey, Director of the Psychohistory Forum, and Editor of the journal Clio's Psyche . Inna Rozentsvit, M.D., Ph.D., Founder & Neuropsychoeducator, NeuroRecovery Solutions and Programs Director, Scientific Faculty Member, Co‐Founder of the Parent–Child Development and The Neuropsychoanalysis Programs, Object Relations Institute for Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, NYC, USA. Claude‐Hélène Mayer, Ph.D.…”

“…Besides a growing number of publications published in the USA, the number of psychobiographies from the South African context (Fouché, 2015 ; Fouché & van Niekerk, 2010 ) and Eastern Europe (Citlak, 2021 ; Kováry, 2011 ) has grown. The formation of a psychobiography forum of international standing has also taken place over the past 2 years, initiated by: Paul H. Elovitz, Ph.D., Historian, Research Psychoanalyst, Associate Professor at Ramapo College of New Jersey, Director of the Psychohistory Forum, and Editor of the journal Clio's Psyche .…”