Lazursky

LAZURSKY Alexander Fedorovich (1874-1917), psychiatrist, student of V. M. Bekhterev, known mainly for his works in psychology. After graduating from the Military Medical Academy, he was retained at the clinic of nervous and mental diseases (dissertation "On the influence of muscle movements on cerebral circulation"). He devoted his foreign mission to the study of psychiatry and psychology. Upon his return, he taught experimental psychology and clinical mental diseases in various institutions of Leningrad (Military Medical Academy, Women's Medical Institute, Pedagogical Academy, Froebel Courses, Lesgaft Courses, etc.), actively participated in the organization of the Psycho-Neurological Institute, of which he was a professor from its founding, was an active participant in all congresses in his specialty, and devoted much effort to summer courses for teachers in various provinces. Lazursky's scientific works have not lost their relevance even to the present time. He was one of the first of our scientists to engage in the doctrine of the constitutions (types) of human personalities. Lazursky's great merit is that he sought to transform psychology into an exact science and to understand the personality as a complex organized psycho-physiological unity, fully revealed only in its relationships with the environment; he saw the root of many mental illnesses in the conflict between the personality and the social environment. Lazursky's main works: "Outline of the Science of Characters" (3rd ed., P., 1917); "Classification of Personalities" (3rd ed., P., 1924). He based the study of personality on biological and social factors ("Uber d. Studium d. Individualitat", Lpz., 1912; "General and Experimental Psychology", 3rd ed., L., 1925). His works on pedology include: "School Characteristics" (2nd ed., SPB, 1913); "Method of Natural Experiment" (collection edited by A. Lazursky, P., 1918). In his last years, Lazursky devoted himself to the study of social psychology.