Aaron Antonovsky (1923–1994): The Personal, Ideological, and Intellectual Genesis of Salutogenesis

Avishai Antonovsky; Shifra Sagy

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-79515-3_4

Aaron Antonovsky (1923–1994): The Personal, Ideological, and Intellectual Genesis of Salutogenesis

Review

In: The Handbook of Salutogenesis [Internet]. 2nd edition. Cham (CH): Springer; 2022. Chapter 4.

2022 Jan 1.

Authors

Avishai Antonovsky¹, Shifra Sagy²

Book Editors

Maurice B. Mittelmark¹, Georg F. Bauer², Lenneke Vaandrager³, Jürgen M. Pelikan⁴, Shifra Sagy⁵, Monica Eriksson⁶, Bengt Lindström⁷, Claudia Meier Magistretti⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Health and Well-being, Medical Corps, Israel Defense Forces, Ramat-Gan, Israel
² Martin Springer Center for Conflict Studies, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be’er Sheva, Israel

Book Affiliations

¹ Department of Health Promotion and Development, Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
² Center of Salutogenesis, Division of Public and Organizational Health, Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
³ Department of Social Sciences, Health and Society, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
⁴ University of Vienna, and WHO-Collaborating Centre for Health Promotion in Hospitals and Healthcare, Austrian National Public Health Institute (Gesundheit Österreich GmbH), Vienna, Austria
⁵ Martin Springer Center for Conflict Studies, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be’er Sheva, Israel
⁶ Department of Health Sciences, University West, Trollhättan, Sweden
⁷ NTNU Center for Health Promotion Research, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
⁸ Centre for Health Promotion and Participation, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Lucerne, Switzerland

Excerpt

This chapter is of particular importance in the handbook. Written by Aaron Antonovsky’s son Avishai Antonovsky, and by one of his closest colleagues and former PhD student, Shifra Sagy, this chapter provides the first biography of the founding father of salutogenesis. The authors share their insight regarding the development of the salutogenic idea, by drawing lines connecting it to the person Aaron Antonovsky was. They were very close to Aaron for several decades, and their familiarity with his background contributes to understanding the development of salutogenesis. They shed some light on Aaron’s personal experiences, ideological beliefs, and professional development throughout his life, until the crystallization of the salutogenic idea.

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