{{short description|German-American social psychologist and historian}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Franz Samelson | image = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|1923|09|23}} | birth_place = Breslau, German Reich | death_date = {{death date and age |2015|03|16|1923|09|23}} | death_place = Manhattan, Kansas, U.S. | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = <!--{{coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline,title}}--> | other_names = | citizenship = United States | fields = Social psychology | workplaces = Kansas State University | patrons = | alma_mater = Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München<br>University of Michigan | thesis_title = Group pressure and incongruity in the cognitive field as determinants of conformity | thesis_url = <!--(or | thesis1_url = and | thesis2_url = )--> | thesis_year = 1956 | doctoral_advisor = <!--(or | doctoral_advisors = )--> | academic_advisors = | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | known_for = Work on the history of psychology | awards = | author_abbrev_bot = | author_abbrev_zoo = | spouse = {{marriage|Phoebe Samelson|1955|2015}} | partner = <!--(or | partners = )--> | children = Karen Samelson | signature = <!--(filename only)--> | signature_alt = | website = <!--{{URL|www.example.com}}--> | footnotes = }}

'''Franz Samelson''' (September 23, 1923 – March 16, 2015) was a German-American social psychologist and historian of psychology.<ref name=ap>{{Cite journal |last=Harris |first=Ben |date=January 2016 |title=Franz Samelson (1923-2015) |journal=The American Psychologist |volume=71 |issue=1 |pages=76 |doi=10.1037/a0039683 |issn=1935-990X |pmid=26766769}}</ref>

Samelson was born on September 23, 1923, in Breslau, German Reich (today Wrocław, Poland).<ref name=ap/> Prohibited by the laws of Nazi Germany from attending any German universities, he instead attended a photography school in Munich, where he later worked in a factory with prisoners of war. After World War II ended, he began working for the United States Army. He also enrolled at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, where he received a diploma in psychology in 1952.<ref name=psytalk>{{Cite magazine |date=Fall 2015 |title=Obituaries |url=https://www.k-state.edu/psych/alumni/psytalk%202015.pdf |magazine=Psytalk |publisher=Kansas State University |page=8 |access-date=2018-09-15 |archive-date=2018-09-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916060342/https://www.k-state.edu/psych/alumni/psytalk%202015.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1952, he immigrated to the United States, following his older brother Hans. He went on to receive his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Michigan in 1956.<ref name=psytalk/> He joined the faculty of Kansas State University in 1957, where he remained until retiring as Professor in 1990.<ref name=ap/>

Samelson died on March 16, 2015, in Manhattan, Kansas.<ref name=ap/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== *{{Cite journal |last=Morawski |first=Jill |date=2015-12-11 |title=Franz Samelson and a Conundrum|journal=Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences|volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=67–70 |doi=10.1002/jhbs.21770 |pmid=26660474 |issn=0022-5061|doi-access=free}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Samelson, Franz}} Category:1923 births Category:2015 deaths Category:American historians of science Category:American social psychologists Category:Historians of psychology Category:20th-century American historians Category:American male non-fiction writers Category:Emigrants from West Germany to the United States Category:Writers from Wrocław Category:LMU Munich alumni Category:University of Michigan alumni Category:Kansas State University faculty Category:20th-century American male writers

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