Westheimer, Ruth Siegel

Westheimer, known to millions as Dr. Ruth, is the most famous psychosexual therapist in the world.

She was sent by her German parents to boarding school in Switzerland when she was 10, and being Jewish, was forced to stay there during the War. Her parents were killed by the Nazis and at 16 she emigrated to Palestine, where she became a resistance fighter in the Haganah. Later she went to Paris to study psychology at the Sorbonne, and emigrated to the USA in 1956.

She has a masters (sociology) from the New School of Social Work and Ph.D. (education) from Columbia. Her pioneering radio and television sexual advice programs, Sexually Speaking and The Dr. Ruth Show, have made her famous, as have her books, newspaper columns, video and computer software.

References

Who's Who in America, 1996
Westheimer, Ruth K., and Yagoda, Ben. All in a Lifetime. (New York: Warner Books, 1987)
"Dr. Ruth Westheimer." Available at: http://www.wic.org/bio/westheim.htm

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European
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20th Century
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Education, Teaching, Libraries
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School-age Years, Adolescence
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