Viktor Frankl Dies At 92

VIENNA - Viktor E. Frankl, a renowned Austrian psychiatrist who taught that humanity is primarily motivated by a quest for meaning in people's lives, has died of heart failure. He was 92.

Mr. Frankl, considered by many the last great psychotherapist of this century, had been suffering from heart problems, the Austria Press Agency reported, citing the Vienna Viktor Frankl Institute.

Mr. Frankl died yesterday. His funeral already has been held, the press agency said.

"Vienna, and the world, lost in Victor Frankl not only one of the most important scientists of this century but a monument to the spirit and the heart," said Vienna Mayor Michael Haeupl.

Mr. Frankl survived the Holocaust, but other members of his family, including his parents, died in Nazi death camps.

During - and partly because of - his suffering in concentration camps, he developed a revolutionary approach to psychotherapy, known as logotherapy. At the core of his theory is the belief that humanity's primary motivational force is the search for meaning, and the work of the logotherapist centers on helping the patient find personal meaning.

According to logotherapy, meaning can be discovered by three ways: "(1) by creating a work or doing a deed; (2) by experiencing something or encountering someone; and (3) by the attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering," he wrote.

Mr. Frankl's teachings have been described as the Third Vienna School of Psychotherapy, after that of Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler.

Mr. Frankl is survived by his wife Eleonore and his daughter, Dr. Gabriele Frankl-Vesely.