Elisabeth’s wheelchair photographed shortly after she passed; photo by her son, Ken Ross.
Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross: A Legacy of Compassion, Courage, and Transformation
Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross was born in Zurich, Switzerland, on July 8, 1926, as one of triplet sisters. From a young age, she was determined to pursue a career in medicine, a decision that clashed with her father’s traditional expectations. Yet, her resolve to help others led her to study medicine at the University of Zurich, where she would later meet her future husband, Emanuel “Manny” Robert Ross.
In 1945, after the devastation of World War II, Dr. Kübler-Ross’s path toward studying death and dying began to take shape. As a member of the International Voluntary Service for Peace, she helped rebuild war-torn communities in Eastern Europe. During this time, she visited the Maidanek concentration camp, where she was struck by the haunting symbol of butterflies etched into the walls by prisoners in their final hours. The butterfly, a symbol of transformation, would later become central to her philosophy on death as a beautiful and transformative experience.
After completing her medical education in Zurich, Dr. Kübler-Ross moved to the United States in 1958. She worked in hospitals across New York, Colorado, and Chicago, where she was deeply disturbed by the prevailing attitudes toward dying patients. In a system where the terminally ill were often shunned, ignored, or treated as mere medical cases, she took a radically different approach. She sat with her patients, listening to their fears, hopes, and dreams. “Nobody was honest with them,” she later recalled, “so I made it my mission to listen.” This personal, compassionate approach to death would come to define her life’s work.
In 1969, Dr. Kübler-Ross published her groundbreaking book, On Death and Dying, which introduced the world to her now-famous “five stages of grief”—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. At the time, her conclusions were revolutionary. The idea that dying patients could experience specific emotional stages was controversial and counter to the prevailing medical orthodoxy, but it resonated deeply with both the public and the medical community. Her work was featured in Life magazine, and her book became an international bestseller, reshaping the way healthcare professionals, caregivers, and the public understood death.
Dr. Kübler-Ross’s influence quickly spread worldwide, and by the early and mid-1970s, she was lecturing to audiences of 5,000 to 10,000 people a week, traveling across the United States and internationally. Her lectures were transformative experiences, offering not only medical insights but also a deeper understanding of the psychological and spiritual aspects of death and dying. During this time, she often shared the stage with other prominent figures of the era, including Ram Dass, the spiritual teacher and author, and William Worden, a renowned psychologist and expert on grief. These collaborations with like-minded thinkers helped broaden the scope of her message, reaching an even wider audience and deepening the public’s awareness of the importance of compassionate care at the end of life.
Her work also helped popularize the hospice movement in the United States, bringing compassionate end-of-life care into the mainstream. Her pioneering ideas inspired countless healthcare professionals and students, making On Death and Dying required reading in medical, nursing, and psychology programs.
Throughout the late 1970s, Dr. Kübler-Ross founded the Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Center and the Shanti Nilaya Growth and Healing Center, where she continued to teach, offer workshops, and explore the deeper dimensions of life, death, and transition. Her work expanded beyond the conventional, as she delved into mysticism, the afterlife, and alternative therapies, always pushing boundaries to better understand the human experience. In the 1980s, she purchased a 300-acre farm in Head Waters, Virginia, which she named Healing Waters. This center became a sanctuary for those seeking healing, transformation, and spiritual growth.
Dr. Kübler-Ross was never one to shy away from controversial causes. In the 1980s, when babies born with AIDS were often rejected by society, she was one of the few people willing to care for them. Her compassion for these children was unwavering, and she tirelessly advocated for their care and acceptance. “She turned her focus to these babies when no one else wanted anything to do with them,” said Frances Leuthy, her assistant at the Virginia center.
After a series of strokes in the 1990s left her physically debilitated, Dr. Kübler-Ross retired to Arizona to be closer to her son, Kenneth. But even in retirement, her legacy continued to grow. She welcomed visitors from around the world, including notable figures such as Muhammad Ali, Oprah Winfrey, Susan Sarandon, and Shirley MacLaine. Her contributions to the study of death, dying, and grief were widely recognized, and in 1999, Time magazine named her one of “The Century’s Greatest Minds” as part of its list of the 100 greatest scientists and thinkers of the 20th century.
Throughout her life, Dr. Kübler-Ross received numerous honors, including 20 honorary degrees and a lifetime of accolades for her work in psychology, medicine, and spirituality. She was a founding member of the American Holistic Medical Association and co-founded the International Work Group on Death, Dying and Bereavement (IWG). Her extensive writing included forewords, chapters, and essays in many books on the topics of death and grief, solidifying her role as a thought leader in these fields.
Dr. Kübler-Ross passed away on August 24, 2004, but her impact on the world is immeasurable. Her compassion, courage, and pioneering work transformed the way we approach death, grief, and the human experience. Her legacy continues to inspire healthcare professionals, caregivers, and individuals facing life’s greatest challenges to embrace death not as an end, but as a profound and transformative passage.