Know Thyself - Paul Valent in conversation with Dani Valent
About
As a child survivor of the Holocaust, Paul Valent’s life’s work has been an investigation into the reasons why humans – who have the capacity to love and care for each other – too often hate and hurt each other instead. Over eight decades, utilising major investigations into how the brain works, he comes to understand the workings of his own mind, the minds of patients, victims, and –eventually, with courage and sensitivity – the minds of perpetrators. Valent reveals how the bulk of our brains conceals a mindset evolved in our jungle heritage, its challenges and traumas.In Know Thyself, Paul Valent describes how this mindset manifests itself in today’s world, in violence that ranges from bullying to war, and includes the Holocaust and other genocides.
Join us for a glass of sparkling and a conversation between Paul Valent and his daughter Dani Valent about Paul's new book, and the challenges of excavating our hidden selves in a precarious world.
Paul Valent – psychiatrist, author, traumatologist and violentologist – was born in Bratislava, Slovakia, in 1938. He survived the Holocaust in Hungary and in 1949 he and his parents migrated to Australia. Valent studied medicine in Melbourne, graduated as a psychiatrist in London, then worked in Israel where he researched the psychological effects of the Six-Day War. Back in Australia, Valent worked as a consultant psychiatrist, mostly in emergency departments at Prince Henry’s Hospital and Monash Medical Centre. He has also worked in private practice. His most recent book is Know Thyself.
Dani Valent is a journalist, restaurant critic, cookbook author, travel writer and screenwriter.
Date
Tuesday 7 July 2026 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM (UTC+10)Location
Avenue Bookstore Elsternwick
351 Glen Huntly Rd, Elsternwick Vic 3185
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