Alejandro Rodriguez (psychiatrist) facts for kids

Alejandro Rodriguez (born February 1918, died January 20, 2012) was a doctor from Venezuela and America. He was a pediatrician, which means a children's doctor. He was also a psychiatrist, a doctor who helps people with their thoughts and feelings. He was famous for his important work in child psychiatry, which focuses on children's mental health. He led the child psychiatry department at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He did very important studies on autism and other conditions that affect how children grow and learn.

Early Life and Education

Alejandro Rodriguez was born in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1918. His father was a businessman, and his mother stayed at home. He grew up in Caracas. After finishing school at Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola, he went to Central University of Venezuela. He became a medical doctor there in 1939.

In 1942, he got a special scholarship to study children's medicine at Johns Hopkins University in the United States. After he finished his training in pediatrics, Dr. Rodriguez went back to Venezuela. He worked there as a doctor for 13 years.

Working at Johns Hopkins

Dr. Rodriguez returned to the United States in 1956. He went to Stanford University to study psychiatry for one year. Then, he came back to Johns Hopkins to finish his training in child psychiatry. He started working with Dr. Leo Kanner.

Meeting Leo Kanner

Dr. Kanner was the head of the child psychiatry department in the 1950s. This was when child psychiatry was just starting. Dr. Kanner taught both Dr. Rodriguez and Dr. Leon Eisenberg. Dr. Eisenberg later became the head of the department after Dr. Kanner retired. Many people say Dr. Kanner was "the founding parent of child psychiatry." He was the first to use the word "autism" in 1935. He also wrote the first textbook about child psychiatry.

Important Research

In 1959, Dr. Eisenberg was the head of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins, and Dr. Rodriguez worked with him. They wrote a famous paper with Maria Rodriguez, Alejandro's wife. This paper described something called "school phobia syndrome." They explained it as a type of separation anxiety, which is when children get very worried about being away from their parents or caregivers.

Leading the Department

In 1968, Dr. Eisenberg left Johns Hopkins. Dr. Rodriguez then became the director of the Division of Child Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins. He held this important job until he retired in 1978. In 1977, Dr. Rodriguez wrote a book called Handbook of Child Abuse and Neglect. Even after retiring, he continued to see patients until he was 85 years old.

Later Life and Death

Dr. Alejandro Rodriguez passed away on January 20, 2012. He died from problems related to heart failure at his home in Palm City, Florida. He was survived by his second wife, Maria Consuelo Rodriguez, his son, two grandchildren, and four step-children.