• Dr. Kübler-Ross was born as one of triplet sisters in Zurich, Switzerland, on July 8, 1926. Always spirited, she decided upon a medical career early in her childhood against the wishes of her father. The focus of her work in death and dying crystallized in 1945. She was a member of the International Voluntary Service for Peace who helped in ravaged communities after World War II. In the concentration camp, Maidanek, carved into the walls where prisoners spent their final hours, she discovered the symbolic butterflies which would become her symbol of the beautiful transformation that she believed occurred at the time of death.
• Her bestselling first book, On Death and Dying, 1969, made her an internationally-renowned author. Even today, her trail-blazing book is required reading in most major medical, nursing, and psychology programs. A 1969 Life Magazine article outlining her work gave further mainstream credibility and awareness to this new way of dealing with dying patients, although her conclusions were quite revolutionary at the time.
• Throughout the 1970's, Dr. Kübler-Ross led hundreds of workshops and spoke to standing-room-only crowds throughout the world. The "five psychological stages of dying" (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally acceptance) outlined in her book became accepted as common knowledge throughout the world. She continued to both learn and teach in many important medical facilities and hospitals as her influence grew.
• In the 1980's, she purchased a 300-acre farm in Head Waters, Virginia, to serve as a healing and workshop center, and called it Healing Waters. "Always controversial, she turned her focus at the time into helping babies born with AIDS when nobody else wanted anything to do with them," said Frances Leuthy.
• She officially retired to Arizona in 1995, after a series of serious strokes debilitated her body, and a fire, which destroyed her house and all of her belongings. She left her farm behind for a fresh start near to son, Kenneth.
• Ultimately, the work of Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross challenged the medical profession to change its view of dying patients and brought about great change and advanced many important concepts such as living wills, home health care, and helping patients to die with dignity and respect. Dr. Kübler-Ross has been credited as one of the Pioneers of Hospice in the United States.
• Time Magazine honored Dr. Kübler-Ross as one of the “100 Greatest Thinkers of the Century.”
• Her classic book, ON DEATH AND DYING, was included among “One Hundred Most Important Books of the Century.”