Heinz E. Lehmann MD

Mental Health

Born:

July 17, 1911, Berlin, Germany

Died:

April 7, 1999

Education:

MD - University of Berlin

Dr. Heinz Lehmann has helped shape modern psychiatric care by recognizing the impact of two different drugs on the treatment of mental disorders. In 1952, Lehmann found that the drug chlorpromazine effectively treated the various states of psychotic patients. And in 1957, imipramine was the first drug to be proven effective for treating depression and Lehmann was the first to recognize this. His approach of pharmaceutical intervention was beneficial to other areas of psychiatric therapy.

Lehmann received his MD at the University of Berlin in 1935. Two years later he came to Canada, where he would become a naturalized Canadian citizen in 1948.

Lehmann has an international reputation for his role as a pioneer in psychiatric clinical investigation. He was at the forefront of the movement that turned psychiatric hospitals into the treatment and rehabilitation centres that they are today.

He has had several honours bestowed upon him including Officer of the Order of Canada, the Page Award, the Stratton Award and the Albert Lasker Award. To further acknowledge Lehmann's tremendous achievements, three distinguished North American awards were established in his name.