Dr. Eva Yampolsky

Biography

Eva Yampolsky is a Senior Research Associate at iEH2, the Institute of Ethics, History, and Humanities at the University of Geneva. Her research focuses on the history of madness across early modern and contemporary periods, particularly the intersections of history, medicine, and religious studies. After completing her doctoral studies in 19th-century French literature at Emory University in 2011, she obtained her PhD in the history of medicine from the University of Lausanne in 2019, where she was awarded a prize from the Faculty of Arts. Her doctoral dissertation investigated the historical perspective of psychiatry in 19th-century France, with a focus on suicide as a medical issue. Yampolsky's recent research includes projects on medical discourses surrounding the nervous body and the phenomenon of demonic possession in 17th-century France. In addition to her historical focus, she addresses contemporary issues related to suicidology, assisted suicide, and palliative care, serving as Principal Investigator at the Palliative Care Unit of Lausanne University Hospital. She regularly engages with specialists in the humanities and social sciences to explore these critical intersections in her work. Yampolsky also teaches a course on suicide prevention at the School of Medicine at the University of Lausanne and has taken on editorial responsibilities as co-director of the Asclepios book series, focusing on the relationships between medicine and religion.

Research Interests