Konrad Zacharias Lorenz
- Born:
- November 7, 1903, Vienna, Austria-Hungary
- Died:
- February 27, 1989, Altenberg, Austria
- Nationality:
- Austrian
- Profession(s):
- Zoologist, Ethologist, Ornithologist, Psychologist
Early Life and Education
- Early interest in animals, particularly birds.
- Studied zoology and medicine at the University of Vienna, earning a doctorate in zoology in 1933.
Career and Major Achievements
- Focused on the study of animal behavior, particularly instinctive behavior.
- Developed the concept of imprinting, demonstrating how young animals form attachments to the first moving object they see.
- Professor of comparative ethology at the University of Vienna.
- Director of the Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology in Seewiesen, Germany.
- Shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1973 with Karl von Frisch and Nikolaas Tinbergen for their discoveries concerning organization and elicitation of individual and social behavior patterns.
Notable Works
- King Solomon's Ring (1949)
- On Aggression (1963)
- Behind the Mirror: A Search for a Natural History of Human Knowledge (1973)
- The Year of the Greylag Goose (1979)
Legacy and Impact
Konrad Lorenz is considered one of the founders of modern ethology, the study of animal behavior. His work on imprinting and instinctive behavior has had a profound impact on our understanding of animal and human behavior.