Herman van Praag
{{Short description|Dutch psychiatrist}}
{{Infobox academic
| name = Herman van Praag
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name = Herman Meïr van Praag
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1929|10|17|df=y}}
| birth_place = Schiedam, the Netherlands
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = Dutch
| occupation = Psychiatrist
| spouse =
| alma_mater = Leiden University, Utrecht University
| thesis_title = Een kritisch onderzoek naar de betekenis van monoamineoxydase-remming als therapeutisch principe bij de behandeling van depressies
| thesis_url =
| thesis_year = 1962
| doctoral_advisor = {{ill|Henricus Cornelius Rümke|nl}}
| influences =
| workplaces = University of Groningen, Utrecht University, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Maastricht University
| doctoral_students =
| notable_students =
| main_interests = Biological psychiatry
| notable_works =
| notable_ideas =
| influenced =
| signature =
| signature_size =
| footnotes =
}}
Herman Meïr van Praag (born 17 October 1929) is a Dutch psychiatrist. He was a professor of psychiatry at the University of Groningen, Utrecht University, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Maastricht University. Van Praag is considered the founder of biological psychiatry in the Netherlands. After his retirement, he has written extensively on religiosity.
Life
=Early life=
Van Praag was born on 17 October 1929 in Schiedam.{{cite web|url=https://profs.library.uu.nl/index.php/profrec/getprofdata/1657 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808163639/https://profs.library.uu.nl/index.php/profrec/getprofdata/1657 |title=Prof.dr. H.M. van Praag (1929 - ) |language=nl |publisher=Utrecht University |archive-date=8 August 2020}} Van Praag is Jewish.{{cite news|author=Jurriën Dekker and Wim van Egdom |url=https://www.rd.nl/vandaag/binnenland/prof-dr-van-praag-religie-blijft-een-groot-mysterie-1.434995 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200813185429/https://www.rd.nl/vandaag/binnenland/prof-dr-van-praag-religie-blijft-een-groot-mysterie-1.434995 |title=Prof. dr. Van Praag: Religie blijft een groot mysterie |language=nl |publisher=Reformatorisch Dagblad |date=8 December 2014 |archive-date=13 August 2020}} His grandparents on both sides were among the first Zionists in the Netherlands, while his parents were non-religious.{{cite news|author=Rianne Oosterom |url=https://www.trouw.nl/nieuws/levenslessen-van-psychiater-herman-van-praag-maak-morgen-beter-dan-vandaag~bdbe1901/ |title=Levenslessen van psychiater Herman van Praag: 'Maak morgen beter dan vandaag' |language=nl |publisher=Trouw |date=4 February 2018 }} During the German occupation of the Netherlands his father, an engineer and jurist for the government was fired. Van Praag himself was taken by the Ordnungspolizei from his primary school in 1942. Between 1942 and 1945 he imprisoned in camp Barneveld and later in Westerbork transit camp and Theresienstadt concentration camp.{{cite news|author=Coen Verbraak |url=https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2015/01/24/een-mens-is-meer-dan-zijn-brein-1459501-a1022655 |url-access=subscription |title=Een mens is meer dan zijn brein |newspaper=NRC |language=nl |publisher=NRC Handelsblad |date=24 January 2015 |access-date=14 August 2020}} Together with his parents and sister he survived the war. He returned from Theresienstadt two months after the end of the war and immediately applied to attend the third year program of the Hogere Burgerschool, to which he was admitted even though he had missed three years of education.
=Career=
Upon completion of his secondary education he studied medicine at Leiden University. After his compulsory military service he performed his doctoral research at the Dijkzigt hospital, where he later became {{ill|Chef de clinique|nl}} of the psychiatry department. In the late 1950s he studied neurology, with a minor in psychiatry. He was impressed by the introduction of monoamine oxidase inhibitor and continued his studies in psychiatry.{{cite web|author=Henk Maassen |url=https://www.medischcontact.nl/nieuws/laatste-nieuws/artikel/de-ratio-van-religie.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200813191214/https://www.medischcontact.nl/nieuws/laatste-nieuws/artikel/de-ratio-van-religie.htm |title=De ratio van religie |date=20 January 2015 |language=nl |publisher=Medisch Contact |archive-date=13 August 2020}} He obtained his doctorate in medicine at Utrecht University in 1962 under professor {{ill|Henricus Cornelius Rümke|nl}} with a thesis titled: "Een kritisch onderzoek naar de betekenis van monoamineoxydase-remming als therapeutisch principe bij de behandeling van depressies".
Between 1968 and 1970 he was a lector of biological psychiatry at the University of Groningen. In the latter year he was named professor of psychiatry at the same university, with a teaching assignment in biological psychiatry.{{cite web|url=https://hoogleraren.ub.rug.nl/hoogleraren/2069-praag-herman-meir-van |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808165252/https://hoogleraren.ub.rug.nl/hoogleraren/2069-praag-herman-meir-van |title=Herman Meïr van Praag (1929) |language=nl |publisher=University of Groningen |archive-date=8 August 2020}} He was the first professor of biological psychiatry in the Netherlands.{{cite web|author=Merlijn Schneiders |url=https://anderetijden.nl/aflevering/101/Wie-is-van-hout |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814120751/https://anderetijden.nl/aflevering/101/Wie-is-van-hout |title=Wie is van hout? |publisher=Andere Tijden |date=14 February 2014 |archive-date=14 August 2020}} During his time in Groningen he was founder of an institute for biological psychiatric research, which was the first in Europe. He would remain a professor at Groningen until 1978. During the anti-psychiatry-movement of the 1970s van Praag faced criticism from students and others who were opposed to biological psychiatry and psychiatric medication, which even lead to threats and police protection.{{cite journal|author=S. Claes |url=https://www.tijdschriftvoorpsychiatrie.nl/issues/455/articles/9529 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200811075448/https://www.tijdschriftvoorpsychiatrie.nl/issues/455/articles/9529 |title=VARIA God, religie en ons brein. In gesprek met psychiater Herman M. van Praag |language=nl |journal=Tijdschrift voor Psychiatrie |date=2012 |issue=/ |pages=687–688 |archive-date=11 August 2020}} Van Praag was professor of psychiatry at Utrecht University between 1978 and 1982. His move to Utrecht was criticized by students sympathetic with the anti-psychiatry movement and van Praag in turn dedicated his inaugural lecture to a critique of anti-psychiatry. In 1982 he moved to New York City where he became a professor of psychiatry at Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He worked there until 1992. During this period he re-organized psychiatric care in The Bronx.{{cite web|url=https://dekennisvannu.nl/site/media/Herman-van-Praag/291 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814122002/https://dekennisvannu.nl/site/media/Herman-van-Praag/291 |title=Herman van Praag |publisher=De Kennis van Nu |date=2 January 2015 |archive-date=14 August 2020}} He was a professor of psychiatry at Maastricht University between 1993 and his retirement in 1997.
Van Praag is considered the founder of biological psychiatry in the Netherlands.{{cite journal|last1=Den Boer|first1=J.A.|title=A farewell to Herman van Praag from the Board of the Interdisciplinary Society of Biological Psychiatry|journal=Acta Neuropsychiatrica|volume=9|issue=2|year=2015|pages=47–48|issn=0924-2708|doi=10.1017/S0924270800036760|s2cid=251053437 }} He is known for his criticism of diagnostic systems within psychiatry and arguing for a more functional diagnosis. Van Praag has also worked on the search for biological markers for psychiatric syndromes. He was one of the earliest researchers into 5-Hydroxyindoleacetic acid of cerebrospinal fluid of depressed patients. Even after his official retirement, van Praag in 2011 once again criticized the way of diagnostics within psychiatry via the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and argued for modernization by way of a functional diagnosis.{{cite web|author=Edwin Kreulen |url=https://www.ad.nl/gezond/we-zijn-echt-op-de-verkeerde-weg~a8f9f3d9/ |title='We zijn echt op de verkeerde weg' |language=nl |publisher=Algemeen Dagblad |date=28 January 2011 |access-date=14 August 2020}}
In 1965 van Praag received the Ramaer medal for psychiatry of the Nederlandse Vereniging voor Psychiatrie en Neurologie.{{cite news|url=https://leiden.courant.nu/issue/NLC/1965-12-21/edition/0/page/3?query= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808164812/https://leiden.courant.nu/issue/NLC/1965-12-21/edition/0/page/3?query= |title=Medaille voor Leidse psychiater |language=nl |publisher=Nieuwe Leidse Courant |date=21 December 1965 |archive-date=8 August 2020}} Van Praag was made Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion in 1990.{{cite web|url=https://www.ntvg.nl/artikelen/personalia-6342/volledig |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814101952/https://www.ntvg.nl/artikelen/personalia-6342/volledig |title=Personalia |publisher=Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde |date=20 May 1990 |archive-date=14 August 2020}} He was elected a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1993.{{cite web|url=https://www.knaw.nl/en/members/members/4668 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191118095359/https://www.knaw.nl/en/members/members/4668 |title=Herman van Praag |publisher=Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences |archive-date=18 November 2019}} In 2007 he was named an honorary member of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology.{{cite web|url=https://www.destentor.nl/apeldoorn/van-praag-erelid-hersenonderzoekers~ad22aadd/ |title=Van Praag erelid hersenonderzoekers |language=nl |publisher=De Stentor |date=30 October 2007 |access-date=14 August 2020}}
In 2011 the book '[https://www.tijdschriftvoorpsychiatrie.nl/issues/455/articles/9529 God, religie en ons brein. In gesprek met psychiater Herman van Praag]' was published by Dutch journalist and writer Tjerk de Reus (1971), on life, opinions and academic works of Herman M. van Praag, based on in-depth interviews during 2010-2011.
Personal life
As of 2018, van Praag was married for over 60 years, the couple had four children.{{cite web|url=https://www.kro-ncrv.nl/programmas/deverwondering/seizoenen/seizoen/het-mooiste-van-de-verwondering-herman-van-praag-kn1714172 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814090455/https://www.kro-ncrv.nl/programmas/deverwondering/seizoenen/seizoen/het-mooiste-van-de-verwondering-herman-van-praag-kn1714172 |title=Het mooiste van De Verwondering, Herman van Praag |publisher=KRO NCRV |date=3 May 2020 |archive-date=14 August 2020}} He is close friends with neurobiologist Dick Swaab although the two disagree fundamentally on the role of the brain versus the totality of the human being.
Van Praag was not raised religiously, he considers himself a Liberal Jew. Since the end of World War II he has worn a Star of David on his wrist. After his retirement, he has written extensively on psychiatry, religion, and religiosity, including several books.{{cite web|author=Wim Houtman |url=https://www.nd.nl/cultuur/boeken/581160/herman-van-praag-en-de-hoop-van-een-twijfelende-jood |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814104856/https://www.nd.nl/cultuur/boeken/581160/herman-van-praag-en-de-hoop-van-een-twijfelende-jood |title=Herman van Praag en de hoop van een twijfelende Jood |publisher=Nederlands Dagblad |date=13 July 2017 |archive-date=14 August 2020}} He has argued for more interest of psychiatrists in religiosity.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Praag, Herman van}}
Category:Albert Einstein College of Medicine faculty
Category:Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion
Category:Leiden University alumni
Category:Academic staff of Maastricht University
Category:Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
Category:Academic staff of the University of Groningen