VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. I'm BobDoughty.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Sarah Long. This week: thelife story of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, the doctor who gave a voice tothe dying.

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VOICE ONE:

For most of her life, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross studied death. Shebecame famous. She changed the way many others in the medicalprofession care for the dying.

In recent years, Doctor Kubler-Ross could speak from personalexperience. She had a series of infections and strokes. But shecontinued her work, even as her health weakened. ElisabethKubler-Ross died last month at her home in Arizona, in the AmericanWest. She was seventy-eight years old.

VOICE TWO:

She was born Elisabeth Kubler in Switzerland in nineteentwenty-six. She was born at the same time as her two sisters. Backthen, giving birth to triplets was far riskier than it is now. Allthree girls and their mother survived. But Elisabeth weighed lessthan a kilogram at birth.

After high school, she became interested in the process of death.She worked without pay at a hospital in Zurich. She helped care forWorld War Two refugees. Later she traveled through Europe. Shevisited countries affected by the war. She also visited a NaziGerman death camp in Poland. It was there that she decided she wouldbecome a doctor of psychiatry and help people deal with death.

VOICE ONE:

Elisabeth Kubler studied medicine at the University of Zurich.She became a doctor in nineteen fifty-seven. She married anotherdoctor, Emmanuel Ross. In nineteen fifty-eight they moved to theUnited States. She worked for a couple of years at a hospital in NewYork City.

Doctor Kubler-Ross said the lack of interest in dying patients atthe hospital shocked her. She demanded better care. She developedprograms to provide emotional support.

In nineteen sixty-one, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross had her first chanceto teach others about what she found so important. She moved West toteach at the University of Colorado Medical School.

She knew that few doctors wanted to talk about the subject ofdeath. Most usually kept the truth from dying patients. ButElisabeth Kubler-Ross wanted medical students to explore what shecalled the "greatest mystery in medicine."

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VOICE TWO:

There was very little written about the subject of death. But shehad met a young cancer patient, a teenage girl with leukemia. Theteenager had spoken openly and emotionally about her fear. She alsoexpressed anger that her family was not preparing for theunavoidable.

Doctor Kubler-Ross invited the girl to be a guest speaker inclass. The doctor told her to be completely honest, so the medicalstudents could learn what it is like to be sixteen and dying.

Many of those future doctors cried. Word spread about thisunusual lesson organized by Doctor Kubler-Ross. Her medical classesbecame very popular. Students of religion and members of the clergyalso began to attend. So did social workers.

In nineteen sixty-five, Doctor Kubler-Ross began to teach at theUniversity of Chicago Medical School. It was there that she began aseries of classes that led to her famous book in nineteen sixty-ninecalled "On Death and Dying."

VOICE ONE:

Some religion students had asked her for help in the study ofdeath. She set up meetings with dying patients. She asked themquestions while the students observed from another room.

Other doctors said patients, especially the young, should besheltered from all talk of death. But Doctor Kubler-Ross said dyingpatients knew when they were being lied to, and that these lies hada terrible effect. She said dying patients often felt alone, likethey had done something wrong.

VOICE TWO:

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross had talked to enough people to develop atheory. She found that many people go through five stages when theylearn they are dying. The first reaction usually is denial. In time,denial generally turns into anger, the idea of "why me?"

People often next go through a stage that Doctor Kubler-Rosscalled bargaining. They might seek intervention from a higher power.Or they might think they can avoid death by changes in the way theylive. When bargaining fails, a person may begin to think of all thatwill be lost and left undone, which leads to depression.

The last part of this process that Doctor Kubler-Ross describedis acceptance. Generally, she found that people at the fifth stagemainly seek peace and rest. They disconnect, to different extents,from the world around them.

VOICE ONE:

The work of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross first appeared in a popularmagazine. Life magazine published a story about a woman whocriticized the way doctors treated her at the University of Chicagoteaching hospital. This was one of the dying patients interviewed byDoctor Kubler-Ross.

Hospital administrators were not happy. They said the hospitalwanted to be known for saving lives. The hospital would not let itsdoctors attend any more of the lectures about death.

Still, the article in Life magazine made Elisabeth Kubler-Rossfamous. She received speaking invitations from across the UnitedStates.

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VOICE TWO:

The force of the movement that she began is still felt todaythrough programs like hospice care. A hospice is a home for peoplewho are very sick and have no possibility for a cure. DoctorKubler-Ross did not start hospice care in the United States, but herwork provided guiding ideas.

The Hospice Foundation of America says hospices do not try tolengthen or shorten life. They try to make the final days ascomfortable as possible. Hospices provide support to family membersas well.

The teachings of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross dealt not only with death,but also with life. She often said the people who died mostpeacefully were those with the least regret about how they hadlived.

VOICE ONE:

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross studied the process of dying until she wastoo sick to continue. She became especially interested in the ideaof life after death. She and other doctors interviewed thousands ofpatients with near-death experiences. She said the stories of whatthe people experienced before doctors had saved their lives were allsimilar.

They usually said they experienced a freedom from pain, and asense that they were floating above their bodies. Even so, theycould often remember the words and actions of medical workers in theroom.

Doctor Kubler-Ross reported that many people also spoke of movingtoward a light or a feeling of warmth. They remembered that thisfelt so peaceful, they did not want to return.

As a result of these interviews, Doctor Kubler-Ross reasoned thatthere was some kind of life after death. She stated this as fact ata meeting of psychiatrists in nineteen seventy-three. She was widelycriticized. Later, she spoke of spirits that served as her "guides."As a result of statements like these, her position as a scientistsuffered greatly.

VOICE TWO:

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross left hospital work to further explore hertheories about life after death. She also became interested in thestudy of what are known as out-of-body experiences. These newinterests caused tension in her marriage. Her husband divorced herand took their two children to live with him. Years later, though,at the end of his life, he moved to Arizona where Doctor Kubler-Rossand her son took care of him.

In the late nineteen seventies, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross opened acenter in California. Later she opened one in Virginia where shemainly worked with people with AIDS, especially babies. Both centersburned. In both cases, police believed the fires had been set.

The Virginia center burned in nineteen ninety-four. The followingyear, Doctor Kubler-Ross had a series of strokes. The last onelimited her ability to move. But she continued to write books. Shespent her remaining years in Scottsdale, Arizona, to be near herson. In two thousand-two, she moved into an assisted-living center.

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross was with friends and family when she diedlast month, on August twenty-fourth. Her death was described aspeaceful.

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VOICE ONE:

SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Caty Weaver. Cynthia Kirk wasour producer. This is Bob Doughty.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Sarah Long. If you would like to send us e-mail,write to special@voanews.com. And join us again next week for morenews about science, in Special English, on the Voice of America.