Michael Kubovy

1940 - 2025

Michael Kubovy

June 14, 1940 - August 21, 2025

Michael Kubovy, Psychologist, who saw life as a series of 'Extraordinary Accidents, dies at 85.

Michael Kubovy, a distinguished Israeli American psychologist passed away on August 21, 2025, in Charlottesville, Virginia. He viewed his own remarkable life as a series of "extraordinary accidents."

A Life Begun in Flight…

Michael was born to Belgian parents in a convent in Bordeaux on June 14, 1940, the day the Nazis entered Paris. A refugee from birth, he survived the Holocaust, escaping Europe through Portugal thanks to the courageous efforts of Consul Aristides de Sousa Mendes, who defied his government to save thousands of Jews during World War II by issuing visas and passports to them.

Michael's youth was shaped by the following flight to America, the move to Israel when it became a state and later by his father's unexpected career as an Israeli ambassador to Czechoslovakia and Argentina. Living in Argentina, Czechoslovakia, and Israel, Michael developed a global perspective and a fluency in multiple languages. His agile movement among them made him a master wordsmith and an inexorable punner. In 1957, he returned to Israel, where he lived and studied until 1971. During this time, he served in the IDF and fought with the "Jerusalem Brigade" during the 1967 Six-Day War.

…And Shaped by Serendipity

Kubovy's journey continued to be paved with happy accidents. A chance encounter led the young Daniel Kahneman to hire him as a lab assistant. Then, during reserve service, his company commander turned out to be Captain Amos Tversky. Michael completed his graduate work with these two future Nobel laureates, with his master's under Kahneman and his doctorate under Tversky, both at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. While there, he also studied philosophy, an enduring interest.

His move to the United States was no different. A slow-arriving acceptance letter from NYU meant he had already taken a postdoctoral position at the University of Illinois. He went on to teach at Yale and Rutgers University before joining the University of Virginia in 1987, where he taught and directed his research lab for nearly 30 years. It was also at UVA that Michael met noted composer and professor Judith Shatin, his partner in love, life and work. Among other collaborations the two taught The Mind of the Artist and Psychology of Music.

An Enduring Legacy

Kubovy's intellectual contributions were profound, reflecting his life-long creativity. He was a pivotal figure in the "rebirth" of Gestalt Psychology, co-editing the 1981 volume Perceptual Organization, which helped bring Gestalt phenomena back into the mainstream of psychology. His landmark 1986 book, The Psychology of Perspective and Renaissance Art, connected the science of perception with art history. He was also celebrated for his pioneering work in decision-making, as well as visual and auditory perception. Among his notable inventions is an auditory analogue to the random-dot stereogram. This allowed a listener to hear a hidden melody with their "third ear" that was entirely undetectable by either ear alone.

His later work focused on the psychology of pleasure and on a new conception of the structure of lives. Michael was the recipient of numerous national and international awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship, and Italian Bozzi Prize. Michael's breadth of interests combined with his integrity and virtuosity in experimental design and quantitative analyses, brought him international fame and admiration. His generosity, goodwill, and mirth made him a beloved colleague and mentor. His enthusiasms ranged from classical music to jazz, Proust to Borges, Rohmer to Altman, hummus to Belgian fries!

Kubovy is survived by his wife, Judith Shatin; his son from his first marriage, director and producer Itamar Kubovy; and two grandchildren, Betty and Theo Kubovy-Weiss.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Hospice of the Piedmont, https://www.hopva.org.