Preview Platform––Frank W. Stahnisch
[Ed.]: “Émigré Psychiatrists, Psychologists and Cognitive Science Researchers
in North America during after the Second World War” [A Special Issue of History
of Intellectual Culture– Vol. 12, 2017/18]
By Anzo Nguyen (http://emigreucalgary.blogspot.ca)
This article preview is part of the regular
Émigré Project Updates: (http://emigreucalgary.blogspot.ca/2018/)
Article Preview: “From German Youth to British Soldier to Canadian
Psychologist: The Journey of German Émigré Dr. Hugh Lytton (1921-2002)” by Erna Kurbegović [accepted for publication in History of
Intellectual Culture] (Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Paul
J. Stortz, University of Calgary)
Of the numerous refugees fleeing the
rise of National Socialism in Germany during the 1930s-1940s, Hugh Lytton’s
story as a young adult caught up in these sweeping changes of European
geopolitics is of particular interest, yet is largely overlooked, even in
academia. However, Erna Kurbegović’s journal article for the upcoming special
issue of History of Intellectual Culture,
“From German Youth to British Soldier to Canadian Psychologist: The Journey of
German Émigré Dr. Hugh Lytton (1921–2002)” sheds light on the fascinating
course of this individual’s life. This article traces Dr. Lytton’s life,
beginning with his childhood in an observant Jewish family in a Germany where
antisemitism was on the rise, in parallel to the rise of Nazism in the troubled
Weimar Republic. By exploring Lytton’s move to Britain, internment at the
outbreak of World War II, and his experience in the British Army during the
conflict’s final phases, Kurbegović traces the factors towards his eventual
career in school psychology. His relationships with various colleagues and
fellow émigrés, whether at the University of Hull or at the internment camp at
the Isle of Man, are explored as key factors contributing to this choice of
career and field of research. Another aspect that is deftly incorporated into
the writing is the cultural shift Lytton faced upon moving to Britain, and how
his transition from observant Judaism to secular Judaism paralleled the
transition in society, and by extension, the schools of psychological thought
he was exposed to during the critical formative years of young adulthood. These
societal influences formed a confluence with Lytton’s academic studies to
produce an individual who was secular in outlook and viewed psychology as a
rational science, instead of as a formalized branch of philosophy, as was
espoused by the traditional German schools of psychology of the time. Finally,
his move to Canada and his work in educational psychology at the University of
Calgary are mentioned near the conclusion. Overall, the article by Erna Kurbegović–who
is a PhD student at the University of Calgary’s Department of History–provides
a detailed overview of Dr. Lytton’s life, providing an insightful look into one
of many stories in the grander picture of the academic émigrés fleeing Nazi
persecution, by tracing the critical factors in this tumultuous time that
contributed to his eventual research and worldview.
