Boris Cyrulnik

Boris Cyrulnik (birth 26 July 1937 in Bordeaux) is a French doctor, ethologist, neurologist, and psychiatrist. As a Jewish child during World War II, he was entrusted to a foster family for his own protection. In 1943 he was taken with adults in a Nazi-led capture in Bordeaux. He avoided detention by hiding for a while in the restrooms and later being hidden from Nazi searches as a farm boy under the name Jean Laborde until the end of the war. Both of his parents were arrested and murdered during World War II. His own survival motivated his career in psychiatry. He studied medicine at the University of Paris. He has written several books of popular science on psychology. He is known in France for developing and explaining to the public the concept of Psychological resilience. He is a professor at the University of the South, Toulon-Var. He was awarded the 2008 Prix Renaudot de l'essai.