DR. MARCEL KINSBOURNE

1931 - 2024

Dr. Marcel Kinsbourne, a distinguished pediatric neurologist and cognitive neuroscientist, passed away on April 21, 2024. He was born in Vienna, Austria on November 3, 1931, the only child of David Hersch Kinsbrunner and Mathilde Kinsbrunner. At eight years old, he and his parents escaped Nazi persecution four days before the borders closed and they moved to England. At Christ Church, Oxford University, he earned a B.A. in 1952, a B.M.B.Ch. in 1955 and an M.A. in 1956. He earned his D.M. in 1963 at Oxford Medical School and then at Duke University Hospital, became a licensed physician in the USA. He then worked at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto and University of Toronto. In 1980, he moved to Massachusetts and was Director of the Behavioral Neurology Research Division at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center. He held research and teaching positions at Harvard Medical School, Boston University, Brandeis University and Tufts University, among others, as well as many clinical appointments. He was a past President of the International Neuropsychological Society and the Society for Philosophy and Psychology. Marcel co-authored and edited numerous books and hundreds of scientific and scholarly articles and served on the Editorial Board of numerous scientific journals. He discovered two diseases, Kinsbourne Disease and Sandifer Disease. He was frequently awarded for his teaching and work in neuropsychology and neurology. He worked full-time until he passed and his contributions will inspire future generations. Marcel was a deeply kind, generous, loving and brilliant man, with a wonderfully clever sense of humor. He was known for his grace and his calm and patient nature. Students, patients, colleagues and friends consistently said that his heart was even larger than his intellect. He was a devoted husband to his wife, Caroline; and a loving and proud father to his seven children, David, Daniel, Jeremy, Emily, Isabelle, Madeleine and Charlotte. He also took pride and boundless joy in his 11 grandchildren. Dr. Kinsbourne will forever be deeply missed, but his legacy will endure because of the innumerable lives he touched so profoundly.

View the online memorial for Dr. Marcel KINSBOURNE