Obituary for Professor Fritz Poustka (1941–2025)
It is with great sadness that we bid farewell to Fritz Poustka, whose life, work, and clinical and scientific contributions to the field of autism touched many people deeply. His death leaves a painful void—for his family, companions, colleagues, and all those whom he treated with great dedication and genuine humanity.
Fritz Poustka was not only an outstanding child and adolescent psychiatrist, but above all a person with an alert mind, an open heart, and a great sense of responsibility. Like no other, he had a decisive influence on autism research in Germany. Through his scientific work, his clinical experience, and his many years of commitment, he contributed significantly to a differentiated understanding of autism and its appropriate perception in medicine and society. Many developments in diagnostics, research, and care are inextricably linked to his work: he made a decisive contribution to the development, translation, and validation of numerous diagnostic procedures and collaborated in many international consortia and genome studies. He was a founding member of the Scientific Society for Autism Spectrum Disorders and remained closely associated with it for many years. In recognition of his extraordinary achievements, he was made an honorary member. In 2022, he received the Kanner-Asperger Medal for his scientific and personal lifetime achievement.
In addition to his immense professional significance, Fritz Poustka was an attentive, level-headed, and above all humorous and reliable person. He always treated patients, their families, and colleagues with respect, clarity, and humanity.
As a teacher and mentor, he influenced generations of colleagues. His thinking, his values, and his commitment continue to influence their work to this day.
With Fritz Poustka’s passing, we have lost an extraordinary person, an outstanding physician, and a scientist.
His legacy lives on.
Our sympathy goes out to his family and all his loved ones.
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