Robert van Voren | |
|---|---|
Johannes Bax | |
 Robert van Voren in 1987
| |
| Born |
July 25, 1959
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
|
| Citizenship | Canada, Netherlands, Lithuania |
| Alma mater | Amsterdam University |
| Known for | his Russian studies, human rights activism and participation in struggle against political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union |
| Awards |
 from Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands for his work as a human rights activist |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | political science, psychiatry |
| Institutions |
|
| Website | robertvanvoren |
Robert van Voren (publishing pseudonym of Johannes Baks,Dutch: Johannes Bax, born 25 July 1959, Montreal, Quebec, Canada) is a Dutch human rights activist,sovietologist and historian.
He is a professor of Soviet and post-Soviet studies in the Ilia State University in Tbilisi (Georgia) and in the Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas (Lithuania) as well as Chief Executive of the international foundation Human Rights in Mental Health-Federation Global Initiative on Psychiatry and Executive Director of the Andrei Sakharov Research Center for Democratic Development at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania.
Biography
He was born on 7 July 1959, Montreal,Quebec, Canada and graduated from Amsterdam University in 1986. In the 1980s, he worked at the Bukovsky Foundation based in Amsterdam and since 1989 was the director of its successor, the Second World Center. Since 1980, he had regularly visited the Soviet Union including Ukraine and collected information on repression of dissidents, as well as smuggling Samizdat publications to the west. In 1986, he became Chief Executive of the Global Initiative on Psychiatry. He is also a Honorary Fellow of the British Royal College of Psychiatrists and Honorary Member of the Ukrainian Psychiatric Association. In 2005, he was knighted by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands for his work as a human rights activist. He has a Lithuanian citizenship since 11 February 2003 and lives in Vilnius.
Robert van Voren has published over a dozen books. His works cover political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union and China and reforms of mental health in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union,Ukraine,Georgia. Robert van Voren's contribution to reform of forensic psychiatry in states of the former Soviet Union is widely recognized. Van Voren also published widely on the theme of the Holocaust in Lithuania.
In 2015, he commented the Russo-Ukrainian War and the Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War. Van Voren wrote about his disappointment with the results of the Dutch referendum on the Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement.
Sources
- Royal College of Psychiatrists. Is there a resumption of political psychiatry in the former Soviet Union?; 3 August 2014.
- Boersema, Wendelmoet. Johannes Bax heet eindelijk Van Voren [Johannes Baks is finally called Van Voren]. Trouw. 18 January 2001. Dutch.
- Clark, Fiona. Is psychiatry being used for political repression in Russia?. The Lancet. 11 January 2014;383(9912):114–115. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(13)62706-3. PMID 24422214.
- Dobryanskaya, Mariya [Мария Добрянская]. Роберт ван Ворен: «Финансовые потоки нужно направлять на создание европейской модели психиатрии…» [Robert van Voren:"Financial flows must be directed at creating European model of psychiatry…"]. НейроNews: Психоневрология и психиатрия [NeuroNews: Psychoneurology and psychiatry]. January 2010;1(20). Russian.
- Donskis, Leonidas. A Litmus test case of modernity: examining modern sensibilities and the public domain in the Baltic States at the turn of the century. Peter Lang; 2009. ISBN 3-0343-0335-1. p. 314.
- Freedom for another Soviet dissident. The Glasgow Herald. 18 February 1987:1.
- Gordon, Harvey. Reform of forensic psychiatry in the former Soviet Union. The Psychiatrist. 31 July 2006;30(8):313. doi:10.1192/pb.30.8.313.
- James, George. Soviet dissident told to leave. The New York Times. 19 October 1985.
- Keukens, Rob; Voren, Robert van. Coercion in psychiatry: still an instrument of political misuse?. BMC Psychiatry. 2007;7(Suppl 1):S4. doi:10.1186/1471-244X-7-S1-S4.
- Lavrinenko, Inga [Инга Лавриненко]. Ракурс [Rakurs]. Эта война — только первый шаг, следующая война будет внутри России, которая начнет распадаться — голландский политолог [This war is only the first step, the next war will be in Russia which will start to disintegrate, says Dutch political scientist]; 18 February 2015 [archived 23 February 2015]. Russian.
- Leygraf, Vrolg. Ist die nachträgliche Sicherungsverwahrung am Ende? [Is compulsory hospitalization unprofitable in the end?]. Der Nervenarzt [The Neurologist]. 27 June 2010;81(7):867–872. German. doi:10.1007/s00115-010-3046-0.
- Lumans, Valdis. Robert van Voren, Undigested Past: The Holocaust in Lithuania. European History Quarterly. July 2014;44(3):586–588. doi:10.1177/0265691414537193au.
- Makhashvili, Nino; Voren, Robert van. Balancing community and hospital care: a case study of reforming mental health services in Georgia. PLoS Medicine. 8 January 2013;10(1):e1001366. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001366. PMID 23319895.
- Moran, Mark. Psychiatric abuses once led to Cold War confrontation. Psychiatric News. 5 November 2010;45(21):6. doi:10.1176/pn.45.21.psychnews_45_21_009.
- Myagkova, N. [Н. Мягкова]. Украинская психиатрия: уроки прошлого и настоящего [Ukrainian psychiatry: the lessons of the past and present]. Вестник Ассоциации психиатров Украины [The Herald of the Ukrainian Psychiatric Association]. 2012;(2). Russian.
- Mykoliuk, Oksana. Punitive psychiatry in the USSR. Book by Dutch human rights champion tells about cruel treatment of dissidents in the 1970s-1980s. The Day newspaper. 6 February 2013.
- Rogers, Paul; Keukens, Rob; Voren, Robert van. Reforming the delivery of forensic mental health and prison mental health in the Republic of Georgia. Mental Health Practice. February 2006;9(5):38–40.
- Skorokhod, Olga [Ольга Скороход]. Голландский канадец спасал советских диссидентов из психушки [Canadian of Dutch origin saved Soviet dissidents from psikhushka]. Gazeta.ua. 1 February 2013. Russian.
- Targum, Steven; Chaban, Oleh; Mykhnyak, Serhiy. Psychiatry in the Ukraine. Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience. April 2013;10(4):41–46. PMID 23696959.
- Tomov, Toma; Voren, Robert van; Keukens, Rob; Puras, Dainius. Mental health policy in former eastern bloc countries. In: Knapp, Martin; McDaid, David; Mossialos, Elias (eds.). Mental health policy and practice across Europe. McGraw-Hill Education; 2006. ISBN 0-335-21467-3. p. 397–425.
- Voren, Robert van. Appeal to Western psychiatrists. The Psychiatrist. 1 September 1992;16(9):590. doi:10.1192/pb.16.9.590.
- Voren, Robert van; Whiteford, Henery. Reform of mental health in Eastern Europe. Eurohealth. Spring 2000 [archived 26 April 2013];6(2, special issue):63–65.
- Voren, Robert van. Comparing Soviet and Chinese political psychiatry. The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. 2002a;30(1):131–135. PMID 11931361.
- Voren, Robert van. The WPA World Congress in Yokohama and the issue of political abuse of psychiatry in China. The Psychiatrist. 1 December 2002b;26(12):441–442. doi:10.1192/pb.26.12.441.
- Voren, Robert van. Reforming forensic psychiatry and prison mental health in the former Soviet Union. The Psychiatrist. 31 March 2006;30(4):124–126. doi:10.1192/pb.30.4.124.
- Voren, Robert van [Роберт ван Ворен]. История повторяется и в политической психиатрии [History repeats itself in political psychiatry too]. Новости медицины и фармации [Medicine and Pharmacy News]. 2009a;(303). Russian.
- Voren, Robert van. Political abuse of psychiatry—an historical overview. Schizophrenia Bulletin. January 2010a [archived 2011-07-26];36(1):33–35. doi:10.1093/schbul/sbp119. PMID 19892821. PMC 2800147.
- Voren, Robert van. Abuse of psychiatry for political purposes in the USSR: a case-study and personal account of the efforts to bring them to an end. In: Helmchen, Hanfried; Sartorius, Norman (eds.). Ethics in psychiatry: European contributions. Springer Netherlands; 2010b. (International library of ethics, law, and the new medicine. Vol. 45). ISBN 90-481-8720-6. p. 489–507.
- Voren, Robert van [Роберт ван Ворен]. От политических злоупотреблений психиатрией к реформе психиатрической службы [From political abuses of psychiatry to the reform of psychiatric service]. Вестник Ассоциации психиатров Украины [The Herald of the Ukrainian Psychiatric Association]. 2013a;(2). Russian.
- Voren, Robert van. Psychiatry as a tool of coercion in post-Soviet countries. The European Parliament; 2013b. doi:10.2861/28281. ISBN 978-92-823-4595-5.
- Voren, Robert van [Роберт ван Ворен]. Психиатрия как средство репрессий в советских и постсоветских странах [Psychiatry as a tool of coercion in post-Soviet countries]. Вестник Ассоциации психиатров Украины [The Herald of the Ukrainian Psychiatric Association]. 2013c;(5). Russian.
- Voren, Robert van. Is there a resumption of political psychiatry in the former Soviet Union?. International Psychiatry. August 2014 [archived 5 September 2014];11(3):73–74.
- Voren, Robert van. Fifty years of political abuse of psychiatry – no end in sight. Ethics, Medicine and Public Health. January–March 2015a;1(1):44–51. doi:10.1016/j.jemep.2014.12.001.
- Voren, Robert van. Ending political abuse of psychiatry: where we are at and what needs to be done. Psychiatric Bulletin. 30 April 2015b. doi:10.1192/pb.bp.114.049494.
- Vytautas Magnus University. Prof. van Voren discussed maidan events; 16 May 2014.
- Voren, Robert van. Путин спровоцировал мировой конфликт [Putin provoked a world conflict]. Новое Время [New Time]. 10 October 2015c [archived 12 October 2015]. Russian.
- Voren, Robert van. Путин - неизлечимый пироман, повышающий ставки [Putin is an incurable pyromane who rises stakes]. Новое Время [New Time]. 12 September 2015d [archived 22 September 2015]. Russian.
- Voren, Robert van. Домашний русский медведь. Москва застала Запад врасплох [The pet Russian bear. Moscow caught the West unawares]. Новое Время [New Time]. 26 June 2015e [archived 26 July 2015]. Russian.
- Wynnyckyj, Andrij. Geneva Initiative on Psychiatry promotes reform of mental health institutions in Ukraine. The Ukrainian Weekly. 8 December 1996:3.
Books
- Voren, Robert van. Political psychiatry in the USSR. Amsterdam: Stichting Comité Vladimir Boekovski [Vladimir Bukovsky Foundation Committee]; 1983.
- Voren, Robert van. Koryagin: a man struggling for human dignity. Second World Press; 1987. ISBN 90-71271-07-2.
- Voren, Robert van. Pere-strojka of de-strojka?: de Sovjetunie op weg naar de eenentwintigste eeuw [Pere-strojka of de-strojka?: the Soviet Union by the twenty first century]. Buijten & Schipperheijn; 1988. Dutch. ISBN 9060646835.
- Voren, Robert van; Bukovskiĭ, Vladimir. Gorbatsjov, tussen hoop en illusie [Gorbachev, between hope and illusion]. Buijten & Schipperheijn; 1988. Dutch. ISBN 9060646738.
- Voren, Robert van; Bloch, Sidney. Soviet psychiatric abuse in the Gorbachev era. International Association on the Political Use of Psychiatry; 1989. ISBN 90-72657-01-2.
- Voren, Robert van; Bon, Alexander. Nationalism in the USSR: problems of nationalities. Second World Center; 1989. ISBN 9071271102.
- Voren, Robert van. On dissidents and madness: from the Soviet Union of Leonid Brezhnev to the "Soviet Union" of Vladimir Putin. Amsterdam—New York: Rodopi; 2009b. ISBN 978-90-420-2585-1.
- Voren, Robert van. Cold War in psychiatry: human factors, secret actors. Amsterdam—New York: Rodopi; 2010c. ISBN 90-420-3048-8.
- Voren, Robert van. Neįsisavinta praeitis: Holokaustas Lietuvoje [Undigested past: the Holocaust in Lithuania]. Kaunas: Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas (Vytautas Magnus University); 2011. Lithuanian. ISBN 9955127163.
- Voren, Robert van. Undigested past: the Holocaust in Lithuania. Amsterdam—New York: Rodopi; 2011. ISBN 940120070X.