French neuropsychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and ethologist born in 1937. A Holocaust survivor, he popularized in France the concept of resilience — the ability to rebuild oneself after trauma.
Boris Cyrulnik(1937 — ?)
Boris Cyrulnik
France
6 min read
Frequently asked questions
Famous Quotes
« Resilience is the art of navigating through torrents.»
Key Facts
- Born on 26 July 1937 in Bordeaux into a Jewish family of Ukrainian and Polish origin
- Escaped a roundup in 1944 at the age of 6, while his parents were deported and died in a camp
- Became a neuropsychiatrist and ethologist, practicing and teaching in Toulon
- Popularized the concept of resilience in France with 'Un merveilleux malheur' (A Wonderful Misfortune, 1999) and 'Les Vilains Petits Canards' (The Ugly Ducklings, 2001)
- Chaired the commission on a child's first 1,000 days in 2018-2019 at the government's request
Works & Achievements
One of the first works in which Cyrulnik brings animal ethology and the human psyche together.
An essay that popularized the concept of resilience with the general public and became a bestseller.
Extends his reflection on resilience through the motif of Andersen's tale; a huge success.
Explores the way the past and trauma continue to act upon the present.
Analyzes the feeling of shame as a social wound tied to the gaze of others.
An autobiographical account of his childhood spent in hiding during the Holocaust, long left unspoken.
A collective work chaired by Cyrulnik that laid the foundation for a public policy on early childhood.
Anecdotes
Born in Bordeaux in 1937 into a Jewish family of Russian and Polish origin, Boris Cyrulnik was only six years old when he was arrested during a round-up in 1944. Hidden in the toilets of a synagogue that had been turned into a detention center, he managed to escape and survived in hiding with righteous people, while his parents were deported and never returned.
As an adult, Cyrulnik long sought to understand how some children, broken by war, nonetheless managed to rebuild themselves. He borrowed the word “resilience” from metallurgy — the ability of a material to return to its shape after a shock — to describe this psychic strength.
Fascinated by animal behavior, Cyrulnik is also an ethologist: he has observed birds, wolves, and monkeys to understand attachment. He likes to say that in order to heal humans, you must first look at them the way you observe animals, without prejudice.
In 2016, President François Hollande entrusted him with chairing a commission on early childhood. Cyrulnik champions the idea that the “first thousand days” of a child's life are decisive for their future development, an idea that would inspire public policy in France.
Cyrulnik recounts that as a hidden child, he learned to keep quiet and to invent stories so as not to be discovered. He says it may be these inner narratives that saved him: telling your story, even to yourself, helps transform a wound into a strength.
Primary Sources
Resilience defines the inner strength of those who, having taken the blow, were able to overcome it.
A trauma is not a destiny. The way we tell its story can turn it into a source of shame or of pride.
When you are a child and you have been condemned to death, you cannot say it, because no one believes you. So you keep silent, and you try to live all the same.
Shame is a social feeling. We feel ashamed under the gaze of another, never all alone.
Key Places
Cyrulnik's birthplace, where he was born in 1937 and where he escaped a roundup in 1944. The founding place of his story as a survivor.
Turned into a detention site during the 1944 roundup, the child Cyrulnik was arrested there before escaping. A decisive episode in his survival.
A town in the Gironde where young Boris was hidden and protected during the Occupation. A refuge that allowed him to survive the war.
The city where Cyrulnik pursued his studies in medicine and neuropsychiatry. The center of his training and intellectual life.
The region of the Var where Cyrulnik worked as a physician and teacher and where he settled for the long term. The setting of his professional and family life.
Typical Objects
A 1999 essay that popularized the concept of resilience in France. It became a best-seller and a symbol of Cyrulnik's work.
A practitioner's everyday tool for recording observations and patients' stories. The narrative holds a central place in Cyrulnik's approach.
An instrument used to observe animal behavior in its natural environment. Ethology fed Cyrulnik's thinking on human attachment.
A badge that Jews were forced to wear under the Occupation. For the young Cyrulnik, it symbolizes the persecution he escaped.
A central object of study in modern neuropsychiatry, whose progress Cyrulnik followed. Brain imaging confirmed the brain's plasticity, the biological basis of resilience.
An emblematic piece of furniture in the psychoanalytic treatment inherited from Freud. Cyrulnik, trained in psychoanalysis, confronted it with ethology and neuroscience.
School Curriculum
Vocabulary & Tags
Key Vocabulary
Daily Life
Morning
A physician and researcher, Cyrulnik devotes his mornings to reading, writing, and working on his books. He also enjoys observing nature, a legacy of his training as an ethologist.
Afternoon
Afternoons are often set aside for consultations, lectures, and meetings with students and caregivers. He shares his knowledge through courses and symposia in France and abroad.
Evening
In the evening, he continues his reading and prepares for his many media appearances, which have multiplied since the success of his books. He also makes time for conversations with his family and loved ones.
Food
Cyrulnik leads the ordinary life of a man from the South of France, attached to the conviviality of shared meals. For him, the table is a place of conversation and social connection, themes dear to his thinking.
Clothing
He dresses with the restraint of a late-twentieth-century academic: classic jackets and understated outfits. His appearance remains that of an approachable man of science.
Housing
Settled in the Var region, near Toulon, he lives in a house in the South of France. The Mediterranean setting accompanies his life as a researcher and writer.
Historical Timeline
Period Vocabulary
Liens externes & ressources
Références
Œuvres
Mémoire de singe et paroles d'homme
1983
Un merveilleux malheur
1999
Les Vilains Petits Canards
2001
Le Murmure des fantômes
2003
Mourir de dire : la honte
2010
Sauve-toi, la vie t'appelle
2012
Rapport des « 1000 premiers jours »
2020
