Heinz Leymann

Heinz Leymann was born on July 17, 1932 in Wolfenbüttel, Germany. He was a Swedish citizen. He was famous for his studies on mobbing among humans. He had a degree in pedagogical psychology, and another one in psychiatry and worked as a psychologist. He was a professor at Umeå University. He died in 1999 in Stockholm.

Academic background
Leymann, who became a Swedish citizen in the mid-1950s, was awarded his Ph.D. in pedagogical psychology from Stockholm University in 1978. He then went on to get another research doctorate (doktor i medicinsk vetenskap, "doctor of medical science", typically translated into English as Ph.D.) in psychiatry in 1990 from Umeå University. Somewhat unusually, his doctorate in psychiatry was based on his clinical background as a psychologist; he did not go through medical training.

Leymann's work on mobbing
Leymann pioneered research into mobbing in the 1980s. His initial research in the area was based on detailed case studies of a number of nurses who had committed or tried to commit suicide due to events at the workplace.

Although he preferred the term bullying in the context of school children, some have come to regard mobbing as a form of group bullying. As professor and practicing psychologist, Leymann also noted one of the side-effects of mobbing is post-traumatic stress disorder and is frequently misdiagnosed. Among researchers who have built on Leymann's work are Noa Zanolli Davenport, Thomas E. Hecker, Linda Shallcross, Kenneth Westhues and Dieter Zapf.