Psychiatry and the Human Condition A Scientific Biography of Silvano Arieti (1914–1981)

This book is the result of extensive archival research conducted on the Collection “Silvano Arieti Papers” held in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. It offers readers the first scientific biography of the renowned Italian-born psychiatrist Silvano Arieti, who in 1939 emigrated to the United States, where he gained fame and recognition for his work on schizophrenia. In 1975, the second edition of his book, Interpretation of Schizophrenia, received the National Book Award in Science.

The book has been cast as a twofold journey: an exploration of the life of a psychiatrist and scientist and an overview of twentieth century psychiatry and its significant issues, debates, and transformations. Readers will find useful insights for a better understanding of psychiatry as a discipline capable of portraying the complexity of human nature. 

1. Introduction.- 2. Castaway.- 3. New World.- 4. Roots.- 5. Horizons.-6. Landings.-  7. At the End of the Journey.

Roberta Passione is Assistant Professor of History of Science and Adjunct Professor of History of Psychology at the University of Milano-Bicocca. Her major areas of research are the history of psychiatry and psychology in the 19^th and the 20^th centuries, the relationship between human sciences and natural sciences, epistemological issues in the history of psychiatry, and scientific biography. She has published several papers as journal articles and as chapters in edited books, as well as six books, including the first scientific biography of Ugo Cerletti, the inventor of Electro-Convulsive-Therapy.

Methodologically, her focus has been archival research on primary and unpublished sources. She has worked at archival collections not only in Italian scientific Institutions but also at the Oskar Diethelm Library, Archives and Manuscript Collections, Institute for the History of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York (2002); the Butler Libraryof Columbia University, New York (2002); the Welcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine, London (2002); the Menninger Foundation Archives, Topeka, Kansas (2003); and the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress, Washington DC. (2016).