Dr. Joachim Lompscher

On the 5th of February 2005 Joachim Lompscher passed away. He worked untiringly to the last for his scientific and moral convictions, which he continuously submitted to critical examination. Not only was he merged into the societal processes of his time, but also actively contributed to them and as such the course his life took was not without frictions or crises.

He was born in 1932 on the 7th of November, in Chemnitz, a small town in the eastern part of Germany, an only son, of Paul Lompscher and the bookkeeper Jenny Zudkowitz both of whom had been members of the KDP since the 20's. He and his mother, a Jewess, only barely escaped being murdered by the fascists. During childhood he lived under the pressure of the Nuremberg Laws but escaped detention. It became clear early on during his time at school that Joachmim Lompscher was eager to learn and committed to driving himself to both individual excellence and to the struggle to achieve social goals.

In 1958, after his studies in Moscow and Leningrad, where he passed all examinations with distinction, he started work as a lecturer at the Humboldt-University in Berlin and by 1959 he was already a scientific advisor for the Ministry for National Education. Soon after, he took over research activities at the Deutschen Psychologischen Zentralinstitut (DPZI).

He completed his habilitation at Karl-Marx-Universität Leipzig (1970).

Shortly after, he received the professorship for Pedagogical Psychology at the "Akademie der Pädagogischen Wissenschaften" (APW), entered the board of directors of the German Society of Psychology and became a member of the Scientific Council of Psychology of the GDR.

His multitudinous publications not only made him the founder of Pedagogical Psychology in the GDR, but also formed the basis for his reputation as an internationally renowned scientist. Lompscher is said to be "the Aebli of the East". However, his work came under dispute in the GDR as he insisted on a "Menschenbild" oriented towards the classics of activity theory and cultural-historical research, Vygotskij and Leont'ev. After the breakdown of GDR and the closure of APW, Joachim Lompscher was briefly unengaged before he became professor at the University of Potsdam. In 1997 - three months before his emeritation - he was prematurely retired due to changes in the evaluation of his social activities in the former GDR. On the international level, Lompscher still enjoys an enormous reputation. His numerous writings are well received in many countries around the globe. He planned and worked on long term scientific projects right up until his death and left significant scientific writings. Joachim Lompscher's death creates an enormous gap. He will be sadly missed as a colleague but particularly as a friend.