Background
His father however, influenced him to study medicine and philosophy.
medical historian psychiatrist university professor
His father however, influenced him to study medicine and philosophy.
He showed an early talent and affection for music and languages. As a young man he considered a career as a pianist and he spoke French, Italian, Spanish, Russian and Yiddish. After becoming a medical doctor he specialized in psychiatry.
He fell into disgrace and was persecuted by the Nazis.
After World World War II he became director of the psychiatric clinic in Erlangen. In 1947 Leibbrand was appointed to a tenured professorship in the history of medicine at the University of Erlangen.
He moved to Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and was in 1958 appointed regular associate professor there, in 1969 professor emeritus. Between 1955 and 1973 he and Annemarie Wettley regularly taught at the Sorbonne in Paris.
In the crisis years around 1930 he joined Verein Sozialistischer Ärzte (The Association of Socialist Doctors) and co-founded a center for drug addicts.