Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt (; 15 June 1928 – 2 June 2018) was an Austrian

ethologist Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour, usually with a focus on behaviour under natural conditions, and viewing behaviour as an evolutionarily adaptive trait. Behaviourism as a term also describes the scientific and objectiv ...

in the field of

human ethology Human ethology is the study of human behavior. Ethology as a discipline is generally thought of as a sub-category of biology, though psychological theories have been developed based on ethological ideas (e.g. sociobiology, evolutionary psychology, ...

. In authoring the book which bears that title, he applied

ethology Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour, usually with a focus on behaviour under natural conditions, and viewing behaviour as an evolutionarily adaptive trait. Behaviourism as a term also describes the scientific and objectiv ...

humans Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

by studying them in a perspective more common to volumes studying animal behavior.

Education and work

Born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria, Eibl-Eibesfeldt studied

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

from 1945 to 1949. From 1946 to 1948 he was research associate at the Biological Station Wilhelminenberg near Vienna and became a research associate of the Institute for Comparative Behavior Studies in Altenberg near Vienna with

Konrad Lorenz Konrad Zacharias Lorenz (; 7 November 1903 – 27 February 1989) was an Austrian zoologist, ethologist, and ornithologist. He shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Karl von Frisch. He is often regarded ...

in 1949. Between 1951 and 1969 he worked at the

Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology The former Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology was located in Bulldern, Westphalia, Germany, moved to Seewiesen in 1957. It was one of 80 institutes in the Max Planck Society (Max Planck Gesellschaft). Background A working group was f ...

(first in

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

, from 1957 at Seewiesen,

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

). In 1970 he became Professor for Zoology at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's List of universities in Germany, sixth-oldest u ...

. From 1975 he was the head of the

, Department of Human Ethology in

Andechs Andechs is a municipality in the district of Starnberg in Bavaria in Germany. It is renowned in Germany and beyond for Andechs Abbey, a Benedictine monastery that has brewed beer since 1455. The monastery brewery offers tours to visitors. The ...

, Germany. He was the co-founder and first president of the

International Society for Human Ethology The International Society for Human Ethology (abbreviated ISHE) is an international learned society dedicated to the study of human ethology. It was founded in 1972, with Irenaus Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Daniel G. Freedman, and William Charlesworth all pl ...

. From 1992 he was Honorary Director of the Ludwig-Boltzmann-Institute for Urban Ethology in Vienna. In the first 20 years of his work as an animal ethologist, he investigated experimentally and descriptively the development of behavior of mammals and compared the behavior of communication of vertebrates. He was the author of many books such as '' Love and Hate: The Natural History of Behavior Patterns'' and ''

Human Ethology Human ethology is the study of human behavior. Ethology as a discipline is generally thought of as a sub-category of biology, though psychological theories have been developed based on ethological ideas (e.g. sociobiology, evolutionary psychology, ...

''.

Personal life

He married Eleonore Eibl-Eibesfeldt in 1950. They had two children, Bernolf and Roswitha. Eibl-Eibesfeldt died on 2 June 2018 in Starnberg, two weeks before his 90th birthday. For many years he dived with

Hans Hass Hans Hass (23 January 1919 – 16 June 2013) was an Austrian biologist and underwater diving pioneer. He was known mainly for being among the first scientists to popularise coral reefs, stingrays, octopuses and sharks. He pioneered the making o ...

on his diving boat ''Xarifa''.

Decorations and awards

* 1971 Gold Medal of the cosmos Bölsche Society for Services to the dissemination of scientific knowledge * 1981 Burda Prize for Communication Research * 1988

Philip Morris Research Prize Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

* 1989 Gold Honorary Medal of Vienna * 1994 Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy at the

University of Salamanca The University of Salamanca ( es, Universidad de Salamanca) is a Spanish higher education institution, located in the city of Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It was founded in 1218 by King Alfonso IX. It is th ...

, Spain * 1995 Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany * 1996 National Park bubble in gold with rubies and diamonds for exceptional service to the international nature protection conferred by the

Natural History Museum of Vienna The Natural History Museum Vienna (german: Naturhistorisches Museum Wien) is a large natural history museum located in Vienna, Austria. It is one of the most important natural history museums worldwide. The NHM Vienna is one of the largest museum ...

and the

Danube-Auen National Park Donau-Auen National Park (german: Nationalpark Donau-Auen) covers 93 square kilometres in Vienna and Lower Austria and is one of the largest remaining floodplains of the Danube in Middle Europe. The German word ''Aue'' (variant ''Au'') means ...

Academy * 1996 Schwenk'scher Environmental Award of

Ebersberg Ebersberg is the seat of the similarly named Ebersberg ''Landkreis'' (district) in the Oberbayern ''Regierungsbezirk'' (administrative region) in Bavaria, southern Germany. The ''Ebersberger Forst'' (forest) is one of Germany’s largest continu ...

* 1997 Gold Medal of the Drs Haackert Foundation, awarded for outstanding contributions to the study of human behaviour * 1997

Bavarian Order of Merit The Bavarian Order of Merit (german: Bayerischer Verdienstorden) is the Order of Merit of the Free State of Bavaria. It is awarded by the Minister-President of Bavaria as a "recognition of outstanding contributions to the Free State of Bavaria ...

* 1997 years prize of the Foundation for Western consciousness (STAB) from Zurich * 1998

Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (german: Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian D ...

* 1998 Inge and Werner Grüter Award for successful science communication for services to the marine biology and Riffforschung * 1999 "Premio Catedra Santiago Grisolía" for contributions to the study of the ethology of the people and the aggressiveness * 1999 "Al mérito" awarded by the

Charles Darwin Foundation The Charles Darwin Foundation ( Spanish: ''Fundación Charles Darwin'') was founded in 1959, under the auspices of UNESCO and the World Conservation Union. The Charles Darwin Research Station serves as headquarters for The Foundation, and is use ...

, Ecuador * 2001 Honorary award from the Heinz Foundation Sielmann for use for conservation, especially in the Galapagos Islands * 2003 Gold Medal for services to the City of Vienna * 2005 Honorary Doctorate of Psychology at the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...

, Italy

References

External links

Eibl-Eibesfeldt's homepageInternational Society for Human Ethology

Homepage of lecture for Human Ethology at the University Innsbruck
several PDF-documents in English {{DEFAULTSORT:Eibl-Eibesfeld, Irenaus 1928 births 2018 deaths Austrian underwater divers Austrian zoologists Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class Ethologists Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich faculty Scientists from Vienna University of Vienna alumni Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts Max Planck Institute directors

Education and work

Personal life

Decorations and awards

See also

References

External links