Douwe Draaisma

Associate professor of History of Psychology at the University of Groningen (2003-2019)

Douwe Draaisma studied psychology and philosophy at the University of Groningen. In 1993, he received his doctorate from psychologist Piet Vroon at Utrecht University for a thesis on the metaphorical nature of the language in which we think and speak about memory. The Metaphor Machine. A history of memory was published as a trade edition and immediately found a large audience. Draaisma's research focuses on written historical sources. He writes about them in an accessible way, not only for academic readers. He became widely known for his book Waarom het leven sneller gaat als je ouder wordt (Why life speeds up as you get older), in which he studies autobiographical memory. In it, he unravels, among other things, why we remember one thing and forget another and how it is possible that old events suddenly reappear in our memory.

Draaisma's work has been awarded many prizes, including the NWO Eureka Prize, and is translated into many languages. His publications are praised for their clear style and accessibility, even when discussing complex topics. Until his retirement in 2019, Draaisma held the Heymans Chair at our faculty. Nowadays, he is still active in academia as an honorary professor at the RUG.