Immanuel Velikovsky Biography

Immanuel Velikovsky was a Russian-Jewish psychiatrist, known largely for his controversial books on ancient history, particularly the Worlds in Collision’, published in 1950, which became a US best-seller, despite being objected by various academicians and scientists. After completing his medical course, he started editing and translating scientific papers into Hebrew at ‘Scripta Universitatis’ journal, a project which played a major role in establishing the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. However, he was more inclined towards the study of ancient history, including the global catastrophes of a celestial origin and reconstruction of ancient Middle Eastern history. After researching for over 10 years, he succeeded in completing two manuscripts – ‘Ages of Chaos’ and ‘Worlds in Collision’, which were highly criticized and banned from being published due to lack of physical evidence of his theories. Despite the increased controversy, he continued to author more books as an answer to his critics’ opposition and their questions. These included: ‘Earth in Upheaval’, ‘Oedipus and Akhnaton’, ‘Peoples of the Sea’, and ‘Ramses II and His Times’. His works were, however, recognized and appreciated in due course of time, following which he started delivering lectures at esteemed universities throughout North America. The BBC and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation aired documentaries on his life and works, as a mark of respect to this infamous psychoanalyst and psychiatrist.