Deutsches Vorwort / English Introduction
Gustav Ichheiser
Authors: Lisa Woller
Gustav Ichheiser was born on December 25, 1897, in what is today part of Poland Krakow, Galicia, then part of the k.u.k. monarchy. When his father, Dr. Michael Ichheiser by profession a state lawyer, died on March 18, 1911, Gustav Ichheiser moved with his mother, Helene Ichheiser, born Ringelheim, and with his older brother Albert Ichheiser to Vienna. The family belonged to the Jewish faith.
Ichheiser attended elementary school and high school until seventh grade in Krakow and then graduated with the completion of eighth grade in Vienna. Immediately after his graduation, in July 1915, he was drafted into the military. After being based several times at the Eastern Front, he was sent to the Isonzo front. Due to an infection of the middle ear he was first admitted to a hospital in Vienna and, after spending considerable time there, released into home care. In October 1918, while he was still being treated in the hospital, he started a law degree at the University of Vienna. He was quick in taking the first state exam for law but then moved to the faculty of philosophy in 1920. With a dissertation titled Terminology of unity and the manifold within aesthetics: A fundamental critique Ichheiser planned to complete his doctorate with Karl Bühler. Bühler rejected Ichheiser’s work on the grounds that "methodical and objective [...] thorough investigations" were missing. Half a year later he submitted a revised version of his dissertation with the title: Subject of aesthetics: A critical investigation. This version was finally approved on June 12th, 1924 and on July 18th, 1924 Ichheiser received his doctorate of philosophy.
Shortly thereafter Ichheiser moved to Italy, where he familiarized himself quite intensively with the writings of Machiavelli. Upon his return to Vienna he started publishing articles in several scientific journals. While his subject areas varied, but always had a strong connection to social psychology. 1926 Ichheiser was hired as psychologists in the Vocational Guidance Bureau and the Vienna Chamber of Labor. As the demand for psycho-technical testing grew in 1928, Marie Jahoda was appointed to Ichheiser for assistance. Jahoda (then Jahoda-Zazarsfeld) assisted Ichheiser not only in testing young persons for their vocational suitability, but also in scientific studies, e.g. in investigating and categorizing the many meanings the term success had for young people (comp. Ichheiser, 1933, p. 101). On April 1, 1933, the Vocational Guidance Office was merged with the Industrial District Commission, which Gustav Ichheiser viewed as most critical and therefore resigned shortly after. Between 1934 and 1938 he commuted between Vienna and Warsaw, where he worked at the Institute for Social Problems (Instytut Sprew Spolecznych) and as a consultant to a scientific publishing company.
Due to the rise of National Socialism in Austria Ichheiser fled in 1938 to America via Switzerland and England, where he was able to continue his work at e.g. the Institute for Education in London through the support of Karl Mannheim before his final departure from Europe. In America he married Edith Weisskopf in 1941. From 1942 to 1943 he worked at the Department of Sociology at the University of Chicago and then at the State Hospital Manteno, Illinois, as a psychologist. During this time his brief marriage also broke. Leaving Illinois he taught as Professor of Psychology and Sociology at Talladega College in Alabama from 1944 to 1948, returning to Chicago after that. After a period of odd jobs and unemployment Ichheiser applied for welfare assistance in 1951 and was consequently committed to the State Hospital in Peoria, Illinois, as welfare services diagnosed him as “paranoia schizophrenic with the inability to manage his own estates.” Continuing to work on his scientific endeavors, he nevertheless remained institutionalized for eleven years. In 1963 he was discharged into a halfway home and finally on the grounds of receiving a grant, released completely from institutionalized care. Throughout his life he sought for a permanent university position. This was, however, never obtained. On November 10, 1969, Gustav Ichheiser was found dead in his own apartment. Personal letters of friends in Chicago hint at suicide. He was buried at the Beverly Cemetery in Blue Island, Illinois. He never returned to Europe.
References and Sources:
Benetka, G . & Woller, L. (2015). Gustav Ichheiser. In A. Stock (Ed.), Deutschsprachige Psychologinnen und Psychologen 1933-1945 [German-speaking psychologists 1933-1945] (pp. 207-208). Wiesbaden: Springer.
Ichheiser, G. (1933). Die Vieldeutigkeit im Begriff des Erfolges [Multiple meanings in the notion of success]. Zeitschrift für pädagogische Psychologie und Jugendkunde, 34, 97-104.
Rudmin, F., Trimpop, R. M., Kryl, I., and Boski, P. (1987). Gustav Ichheiser in the history of social psychology: An early phenomenology of social attribution. British Journal of Social Psychology, 26, 165-180.
Woller, L. (2013). „Sein“ und „Erscheinen“: Leben und Werk von Gustav Ichheiser [Being and appearance, life and work of Gustav Ichheiser] (Unpublished Bachelorthesis). Vienna: Sigmund Freud Private University.
ArchiveAncestry.com
University of Vienna Archives
Library of Vienna Chamber of Labor
The University of Chicago Library: Special Collections Research Centre
Picture: Portrait of Gustav Ichheiser in 1942 from his immigration papers (accessed by Lisa Woller on July 18th, 2013, Ancestry.com. Alabama, Immigration registry, 1909- 1991 [online data base]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Original Data: Alabama Naturalization Records, 1909-1991. Records of the District Courts of the United States, 1685– 2004. Record Group 21. The National Archives at Atlanta. Atlanta, Georgia,USA)
Authors: Lisa Woller
Gustav Ichheiser was born on December 25, 1897, in what is today part of Poland Krakow, Galicia, then part of the k.u.k. monarchy. When his father, Dr. Michael Ichheiser by profession a state lawyer, died on March 18, 1911, Gustav Ichheiser moved with his mother, Helene Ichheiser, born Ringelheim, and with his older brother Albert Ichheiser to Vienna. The family belonged to the Jewish faith.
Ichheiser attended elementary school and high school until seventh grade in Krakow and then graduated with the completion of eighth grade in Vienna. Immediately after his graduation, in July 1915, he was drafted into the military. After being based several times at the Eastern Front, he was sent to the Isonzo front. Due to an infection of the middle ear he was first admitted to a hospital in Vienna and, after spending considerable time there, released into home care. In October 1918, while he was still being treated in the hospital, he started a law degree at the University of Vienna. He was quick in taking the first state exam for law but then moved to the faculty of philosophy in 1920. With a dissertation titled Terminology of unity and the manifold within aesthetics: A fundamental critique Ichheiser planned to complete his doctorate with Karl Bühler. Bühler rejected Ichheiser’s work on the grounds that "methodical and objective [...] thorough investigations" were missing. Half a year later he submitted a revised version of his dissertation with the title: Subject of aesthetics: A critical investigation. This version was finally approved on June 12th, 1924 and on July 18th, 1924 Ichheiser received his doctorate of philosophy.
Shortly thereafter Ichheiser moved to Italy, where he familiarized himself quite intensively with the writings of Machiavelli. Upon his return to Vienna he started publishing articles in several scientific journals. While his subject areas varied, but always had a strong connection to social psychology. 1926 Ichheiser was hired as psychologists in the Vocational Guidance Bureau and the Vienna Chamber of Labor. As the demand for psycho-technical testing grew in 1928, Marie Jahoda was appointed to Ichheiser for assistance. Jahoda (then Jahoda-Zazarsfeld) assisted Ichheiser not only in testing young persons for their vocational suitability, but also in scientific studies, e.g. in investigating and categorizing the many meanings the term success had for young people (comp. Ichheiser, 1933, p. 101). On April 1, 1933, the Vocational Guidance Office was merged with the Industrial District Commission, which Gustav Ichheiser viewed as most critical and therefore resigned shortly after. Between 1934 and 1938 he commuted between Vienna and Warsaw, where he worked at the Institute for Social Problems (Instytut Sprew Spolecznych) and as a consultant to a scientific publishing company.
Due to the rise of National Socialism in Austria Ichheiser fled in 1938 to America via Switzerland and England, where he was able to continue his work at e.g. the Institute for Education in London through the support of Karl Mannheim before his final departure from Europe. In America he married Edith Weisskopf in 1941. From 1942 to 1943 he worked at the Department of Sociology at the University of Chicago and then at the State Hospital Manteno, Illinois, as a psychologist. During this time his brief marriage also broke. Leaving Illinois he taught as Professor of Psychology and Sociology at Talladega College in Alabama from 1944 to 1948, returning to Chicago after that. After a period of odd jobs and unemployment Ichheiser applied for welfare assistance in 1951 and was consequently committed to the State Hospital in Peoria, Illinois, as welfare services diagnosed him as “paranoia schizophrenic with the inability to manage his own estates.” Continuing to work on his scientific endeavors, he nevertheless remained institutionalized for eleven years. In 1963 he was discharged into a halfway home and finally on the grounds of receiving a grant, released completely from institutionalized care. Throughout his life he sought for a permanent university position. This was, however, never obtained. On November 10, 1969, Gustav Ichheiser was found dead in his own apartment. Personal letters of friends in Chicago hint at suicide. He was buried at the Beverly Cemetery in Blue Island, Illinois. He never returned to Europe.
References and Sources:
Benetka, G . & Woller, L. (2015). Gustav Ichheiser. In A. Stock (Ed.), Deutschsprachige Psychologinnen und Psychologen 1933-1945 [German-speaking psychologists 1933-1945] (pp. 207-208). Wiesbaden: Springer.
Ichheiser, G. (1933). Die Vieldeutigkeit im Begriff des Erfolges [Multiple meanings in the notion of success]. Zeitschrift für pädagogische Psychologie und Jugendkunde, 34, 97-104.
Rudmin, F., Trimpop, R. M., Kryl, I., and Boski, P. (1987). Gustav Ichheiser in the history of social psychology: An early phenomenology of social attribution. British Journal of Social Psychology, 26, 165-180.
Woller, L. (2013). „Sein“ und „Erscheinen“: Leben und Werk von Gustav Ichheiser [Being and appearance, life and work of Gustav Ichheiser] (Unpublished Bachelorthesis). Vienna: Sigmund Freud Private University.
ArchiveAncestry.com
University of Vienna Archives
Library of Vienna Chamber of Labor
The University of Chicago Library: Special Collections Research Centre
Picture: Portrait of Gustav Ichheiser in 1942 from his immigration papers (accessed by Lisa Woller on July 18th, 2013, Ancestry.com. Alabama, Immigration registry, 1909- 1991 [online data base]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Original Data: Alabama Naturalization Records, 1909-1991. Records of the District Courts of the United States, 1685– 2004. Record Group 21. The National Archives at Atlanta. Atlanta, Georgia,USA)