Boris Cyrulnik

About Boris Cyrulnik

Boris Cyrulnik is one of the pioneers of French ethology. He is also a neuropsychiatrist, psychoanalyst, psychologist, and author of numerous works. He lost his parents at a very young age, and public assistance followed by a teacher took over his education; to cope with this loss, he developed a method that is uniquely his own. This is how he constructed what he calls a “synthetic father made of rugby, science, resourcefulness, and political pamphlet,” each piece providing him with a different perspective on humanity. At twelve, he walks around with a book on animal psychology in his pocket, marvels at the organization of an anthill, is interested in naturalists, and engages with adults who challenge previous beliefs, denouncing the boundaries between scientific disciplines. Under the influence of his friend Hubert Montagné, now a psycho-physio-ethologist, he discovers in the 1960s, at the end of his medical studies, a brand new discipline: human ethology. In a state of questioning, preferring synthesis over analysis, he embarks on this innovative science in addition to psychiatry, social psychology, and clinical practice, firmly rejecting the idea of specializing. For him, the blending of genres, the joint approach of body and mind, speech and molecule, human and animal is an essential journey towards a comprehensive understanding of the human dimension. A path of a free man. Once on this track, he does not stop, accumulating a wealth of documents, working on the biology of affect, the power of language, the signs of the body, applying to humans methods of study previously reserved for the animal kingdom, traveling the world and creating a transdisciplinary research group in clinical ethology at the hospital in Toulon-La-Seyne. His goal is to study human development, the complexity of relational systems, the influence of language, the unconscious, and non-verbal communication signs on the biology and psychological construction of an individual. Eager to decode the human machine, Boris Cyrulnik travels the world in search of information. Travels, conferences, lectures, courses, the man is tireless. His reputation as an ethologist is growing; his contribution to legitimizing this science is crucial. From the 1980s onwards, he dedicates his life to popularizing his knowledge through his books: ‘Monkey Memory and Human Words’, ‘The Ugly Ducklings’… Professor, writer, poet, Boris Cyrulnik blends genres, with the ultimate goal of decoding human beings.