Shmuel Vaknin (more commonly known as Sam Vaknin) was born in April 1961 in Qiryat-Yam, Haifa, Israel.[1][2][3][dead link] He is primarily a journalist and author, writing extensively on various subjects such as history, philosophy, politics, finance and mental health.[2] He is the editor-in-chief of the website Global Politician.[4]
Early life
Vaknin was born the eldest of five children to a Turkish mother and a father who was a construction worker from Morocco. His father was clinically depressed, and his mother Vaknin believes was a narcissist. He describes a difficult childhood, in which his parents "were ill-equipped to deal with normal children, let alone the gifted", such as himself, with an IQ of 180.[5] Vaknin left home to join the Israeli army at 17.[5] He studied at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel, and from 1982 to 1983 at the Pacific Western University in Encino, California, where he received a Ph.D in the Philosophy of Physics.[6]
Career
Vaknin worked in the City of London, and became a self-made millionaire. He was aware that he had difficulties in his relationship with his fiancée, and that he had mood swings. In 1985 he sought help from a psychiatrist, who diagnosed him with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). Vaknin did not accept the diagnosis at the time.[7] Vaknin's engagement broke up and he moved back to Israel, becoming the owner of Israel’s largest stock exchange brokerage house.[7] He was President of the Israeli Chapter of the Unification Church's Professors for World Peace Academy.[2] In Israel in 1995 he was found guilty on three counts of stock fraud, along with two other men. Vaknin was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment and a fine of 50,000 Shekels (about $12,000).[1][8][9] Vaknin served his sentence in a prison near Tel Aviv. In 1996—as a condition of parole—he agreed to a mental health evaluation, which noted various personality disorders. According to Vaknin "I was borderline schizoid, but the most dominant was NPD", and on this occasion he accepted the diagnosis, as "it was a relief to know what I had".[7]
Vaknin has lived Skopje, Macedonia since 1996.[10] He married Macedonian Lidija Rangelovska,[11][12] the owner of Narcissus Publications[13] who publishes much of his work.
Between 2001 and 2003, Vaknin was Senior Business Correspondent for United Press International.[2][14] He has also written for Central Europe Review about political issues in the Balkans,[15] as well as for the Middle East Times.[2][16] Until a few weeks prior to the September 2002 Macedonian election, Sam Vaknin served as an advisor to the Macedonia's Ministry of Finance.
In addition to being Editor-In-Chief of Global Politician Vaknin writes regularly for other publications, such as the International Analyst Network[17] and the online American Chronicle.[18]
Views on narcissism
Vaknin has a prolific online presence, writing on topics relating mainly to narcissism, and to a lesser extent psychopathy.[19] Some believe that he merely 'satisfies his own narcissistic needs by creating himself as a guru to whom women (mainly) in distress turn for advice', and that therefore he might be unable to truly analyze the condition from a neutral point of view.[20]
Vaknin states that it is impossible "to resuscitate [a narcissist's true self] through therapy".[21] In his view, narcissists are not real people, because their "true self", the core of their personality, is lost and has been replaced by delusions of grandeur which manifest in a "false self". Therefore, they cannot be healed, because they do not exist as real persons, only as reflections.[22] "The False Self replaces the narcissist's True Self and is intended to shield him from hurt and narcissistic injury by self-imputing omnipotence...The narcissist pretends that his False Self is real and demands that others affirm this confabulation",[23] meanwhile keeping his real-life imperfect true self under wraps.[24] Vaknin extends the concept of narcissistic supply, and introduces further concepts such as primary narcissistic supply and secondary narcissistic supply.[25] He distinguishes between cerebral and somatic narcissists. They either generate their narcissistic supply by applying their bodies or by applying their minds. He considers himself to be a cerebral narcissist.[26] He calls narcissistic co-dependents "inverted narcissists".[27] "[They] provide the narcissist with an obsequious, unthreatening audience...the perfect backdrop.".[28] Vaknin's views on narcissism and related issues are solicited by the media,[5][7][29] and his work is cited by academics as a useful practical resource.[30] As Vaknin acknowledges, some of his theories are not accepted by academics in the field.[31]
Vaknin considers that disproportionate numbers of pathological narcissists are at work in the most influential reaches of society such as medicine, finance and politics.[32] Vaknin introduced the claim that Barack Obama is a narcissist in 2008, and since then that idea has been adopted by other commentators who criticise Obama and his policies.[33][34]
Film appearances
In 2007, Vaknin appeared in the Channel 4 documentary Egomania.[35]
In 2009, Vaknin was the subject of the documentary film I, Psychopath, directed by Ian Walker.[36][dead link]
Wikipedia
In 2006, Vaknin questioned the validity of the online, freely-editable encyclopedia Wikipedia. He claims that it is not an encyclopedia, is anarchic and lacking in the proper screening of contributions and facts that ensure quality. Due to all of this, Vaknin claims that Wikipedia will implode on itself. Criticisms include anyone's ability to edit Wikipedia—regardless of the level of knowledge or expertise that person has in the subject—together with issues of copyright and anonymous editing by Wikipedia themselves. His comments have reportedly attracted the interest of Wikipedia's hierarchy.[37][38][39][40][41][third-party source needed]
Publications
Vaknin's books include:[42]
- "Bakasha me-Isha Ahuva" - "Requesting my Loved One", Yedioth Aharonot Miskal-Prose, Tel-Aviv, 1997
- (with Nikola Gruevski) Macedonian Economy on a Crossroads, Skopje, NIP Noval Literatura, 1998. ISBN 9989-610-01-0
- "Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited", Narcissus Publications, Prague, 1999 ISBN 978-8023833843[43]
- "After the Rain - How the West Lost the East" Narcissus Publications in association with Central Europe Review/CEENMI, 2000[44]
- Russian Roulette - Russia's Economy In Putin's Era (2003) ISBN 9989-929-31-9
See also
References
- ^ a b Vaknin, Sam. Narcissism List Archive - Number 17 Accessed Oct 30, 2010
- ^ a b c d e Vaknin, Sam. Curriculum Vitae. Accessed Oct 30, 2010
- ^ Sam Vaknin - in his own words Accessed October 30, 2010
- ^ "GP Editors". Global Politician. 2011. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
- ^ a b c "The monster in the mirror - Times Online". The Times. London. September 16, 2007. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
- ^ Sam Vaknin (2000). After the Rain: How the West Lost the East. Narcissus Publications,Czech Republic. p. 276. ISBN 80-238-5173-X.
- ^ a b c d Tempany, Adrian (September 4, 2010). "When narcissism becomes pathological". Financial Times. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
- ^ Gordon, Evelyn. Jerusalem Post, June 14, 1996, Supreme Court rejects appeal of three stock manipulators, Accessed October 30, 2010
- ^ Rosenfeld, Jose. Jerusalem Post, July 27, 1995, BUSINESS BRIEFS, Accessed October 30, 2010
- ^ Hall, Tim. New Narc City: Sam Vaknin and the Narcissism of Wall Street New York Press Tuesday February 18, 2003 Accessed October 30, 2010
- ^ Deliso, Chris. Expat Life in Macedonia Some Have Found a Way to Live and Even Thrive Accessed October 30, 2010
- ^ Vaknin, Sam. The Adrenaline Junkie Accessed October 30, 2010
- ^ Vaknin, Sam. Publisher detail on homepage Accessed October 30, 2010
- ^ Vaknin, Sam UPI: Commentary: The morality of Child labor, Accessed October 30, 2010
- ^ Central Europe Review. Author Archive: Sam Vaknin. Accessed October 30, 2010
- ^ Vaknin, Sam, Middle East Times: The axis of oil, Accessed October 30, 2010.
- ^ International Analyst Network
- ^ American Chronicle
- ^ Sam Vaknin website
- ^ Simon Crompton, All about Me (London 2007)
- ^ Samuel Vaknin/Lidija Rangelovska Malignant Self-Love (2003) p. 187-8
- ^ http://samvak.tripod.com/journal12.html
- ^ Vaknin S The Dual Role of the Narcissist's False Self
- ^ http://samvak.tripod.com/faq48.html
- ^ Vaknin, Sam Narcissists, Narcissistic Supply and Sources of Supply
- ^ Vaknin, Sam The Cerebral vs. the Somatic Narcissist
- ^ Vaknin, Sam The Inverted Narcissist
- ^ Simon Crompton, All About Me: Loving a Narcissist (London 2007) p. 31
- ^ Lisa Respers France (February 2, 2011). "Reality bites after the lights go out". CNN. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
{{cite news}}
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(help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Ronningstam, Elsa (2005). Identifying and understanding the narcissistic personality. Oxford [Oxfordshire]: Oxford University Press. p. 29. ISBN 0-19-514873-8.
- ^ http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/5ff67be2-b636-11df-a784-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1DD9m1Bdz
- ^ Megalomiacs abound in politics/medicine/finance Business Day 2011/01/07
- ^ Barack Obama - Narcissist or Merely Narcissistic? Global Politician 8/13/2008
- ^ James Lewis Obama's Malignant Narcissism American Thinker March 04, 2010
- ^ Woolaston, Sam Last night's TV The Guardian, Tuesday February 6, 2007 Accessed October 30, 2010
- ^ I, Psychopath CBC Newsworld May 20, 2009 Accessed October 30, 2010
- ^ Wikipedia and the Credibility of Online Information by Sam Vaknin Global Politician 2/5/2006
- ^ The New Dark Ages by Sam Vaknin Global Politician 5/20/2006
- ^ Thoughts on the Internet's Founding Myths by Sam Vaknin Global Politician 6/15/2006
- ^ The Six Sins of Wikipedia American Chronicle, July 2, 2006
- ^ The Wikipedia Cult American Chronicle, May 28, 2010
- ^ Project Gutenberg - books by Sam Vaknin
- ^ Roberts, David. Narcissistic Personality Disorder - online conference transcript. Accessed October 30, 2010
- ^ Central Europe Review Accessed October 30, 2010