Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross was a Swiss-American psychiatrist, humanitarian, and pioneer in near-death studies whose groundbreaking clinical work transformed how modern medicine approaches terminally ill patients. She spent her career advocating for the compassionate treatment and psychological care of the dying.

She is best known for her monumental 1969 book On Death and Dying, in which she introduced the now-famous Five Stages of Grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. She authored over twenty other books exploring end-of-life care and the transition of consciousness.

Dr. Kübler-Ross’s work fundamentally shifted Western cultural and medical paradigms, paving the way for the modern hospice movement and palliative care. Her legacy of empathy continues to comfort and guide those facing grief and mortality.