Grunya Sukhareva
First psychiatrist to identify and pathologize autism.
Grunya Yefimovna Sukhareva (11 November 1891 – 26 April 1981) was a Soviet child psychiatrist who became the first clinician to identify and pathologize autism. Born in Kyiv, then part of the Russian Empire, to Khaim Faitelevich and Rakhila Iosifovna Sukhareva, she studied medicine at the Kyiv Medical Institute, earning her degree in 1915. She initially worked in the institute’s epidemiological unit before moving to the Kyiv Psychiatric Hospital as a licensed psychiatrist in 1917. From 1919 to 1921, she headed the Defectology Department at the Institute of Mental Health of Children and Adolescents. In 1921, she relocated to Moscow, where she founded a pioneering institution—the Psycho-Neurological and Pedagogical Sanatorium School of the Institute of Physical Training and Medical Pedology. This school housed children who had lost their families and shelter after World War I, typically for two to three years, offering training to develop social and motor skills. There, Sukhareva conducted meticulous clinical observations of her students, forming the basis of her seminal 1925 publication detailing autistic traits in six boys, which she described as “schizoid psychopathy.” A 1927 work extended these findings to girls. She later adopted the term “autistic (pathological avoidant) psychopathy.” Her descriptions closely align with modern Autism Spectrum Disorder criteria in the DSM-5 and ICD-11. Sukhareva hypothesized a neurological basis for the syndrome, implicating the cerebellum, frontal lobe, and basal ganglia—hypotheses later confirmed by neuroimaging. She credited her mentor, Mikhail Osipovich Gurevich, frequently citing him in her publications. Over her career, she published more than 150 papers and several textbooks. She served as an associate professor at Moscow’s First Medical Institute (1928), led the psychiatry department at Kharkiv University (1933–1935), founded a Faculty of Pediatric Psychiatry at the Central Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education (1935), and led a childhood psychosis clinic under the Russian SFSR Ministry of Agriculture and Food (1938). She worked at the Kashchenko Psychiatric Hospital in Moscow until 1969.
- born
- 11 November 1891, Kyiv, Russian Empire
- died
- 26 April 1981
- field
- Child psychiatry
- nationality
- Soviet
- known_for
- First to identify and pathologize autism; pioneering research on autistic traits
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
Grunya Yefimovna Sukhareva was born on 11 November 1891 in Kyiv, Russian Empire, to parents Khaim Faitelevich and Rakhila Iosifovna Sukhareva. She studied medicine at the Kyiv Medical Institute and earned her medical degree in 1915. She worked at the institute's epidemiological unit until 1917, then as a licensed psychiatrist at the Kyiv Psychiatric Hospital until 1921. From 1919 to 1921, she served as Head of the Defectology Department at the Institute of Mental Health of Children and Adolescents. In 1921, she moved to Moscow and founded the Psycho-Neurological and Pedagogical Sanatorium School of the Institute of Physical Training and Medical Pedology. There, through close clinical observations of children who stayed 2–3 years, she conducted her groundbreaking research on autism. Her seminal 1925 publication (translated to German in 1926) described six boys with what she called "schizoid psychopathy," and her 1927 work covered five girls. She published over 150 papers and several textbooks. She worked as an associate professor at Moscow's first Medical Institute in 1928, led the department of Psychiatry at Kharkiv University from 1933 to 1935, and founded a Faculty of Pediatric Psychiatry in 1935, serving as Head until 1965. She led a clinic of childhood psychosis in 1938 and worked at the Psychiatric Hospital of Kashchenko in Moscow until 1969. She died on 26 April 1981.
Reader's Guide
Sukhareva's key contribution was being the first to detail autistic traits in children, nearly two decades before Hans Asperger and Leo Kanner. Her 1925 publication used the term "autistic" (coined by Eugen Bleuler a decade earlier) to describe socially withdrawn behaviors, but she differentiated autism from schizophrenia well before the DSM-III in 1980. She hypothesized a neurological basis for the syndrome, specifically implicating the cerebellum, frontal lobe, and basal ganglia—hypotheses later confirmed by neuroimaging studies. She initially used "schizoid psychopathy" but later replaced it with "autistic (pathological avoidant) psychopathy." Her work was published in German-language journals in 1926, making it accessible to Asperger and Kanner; Kanner cited her 1932 publication in papers from 1949 and 1962, but the reason Asperger did not cite her remains debated. Sukhareva also studied personality disorders in children, emphasizing social factors like poor family environment, and advocated for sending difficult children to medical institutions rather than prisons. She studied PTSD from war injuries in children. The Moscow Scientific and Practical Center for Mental Health of Children and Adolescents was named after her by order of the Moscow Department of Health.
Did You Know?
- Sukhareva's 1925 publication on autistic traits in six boys was translated into German in 1926 and later into English by Sula Wolff in 1996.
- She hypothesized that the cerebellum, frontal lobe, and basal ganglia were involved in autism—later confirmed by neuroimaging.
- She published over 150 papers and several textbooks during her career.
- The Moscow Scientific and Practical Center for Mental Health of Children and Adolescents was named after her.
- She described five girls with autistic traits in 1927, making her an early pioneer in studying autism in females.
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