Born: Fredrich Solomon Pearls was born into a lower middle class Jewish family on July 8, 1893 in Berlin, Germany.

He served as a German medic in World War I and received the Iron Cross for bravery.

Fritz met with Dr. Sigmund Freud in the hopes of sharing his new ideas on Gestalt Philosophy and Gestalt Therapy. However, Sigmund gave Fritz 5 minutes of his time, thus insulting Fritz and thus challenging him to further developing his new theories and treatments of Gestalt psychotherapy.

As a German-Jew, he he was forced leave his native country of Germany after anti-semitic Nazi Powers finally took over.

He coined the term 'Gestalt Therapy' for the approach to therapy he developed with his wife Laura Perls from the 1940s, and he became associated with the Esalen Institute in California in 1964. His approach is related but not identical to Gestalt psychology and the Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy of Hans-Jürgen Walter.

At Gestalt Therapy's core is the promotion of awareness, the awareness of the unity of all present feelings and behaviors, and the contact between the self and its environment.

Perls has been widely evoked outside the realm of psychotherapy for a quotation often described as the "Gestalt prayer". This was especially true in the 1960s, when the version of individualism it expresses received great attention.

Spouse: Laura Pearls

Occupation: Fritz was a psychiatrist, psychotherapist and founder of Gestalt Therapy.

Life Goals: To establish a Gestalt Community for psychotherapists and counselors in order to live and train in the art and science of Gestalt Therapy.

The Gestalt Prayer:

I do my thing and you do your thing.

I am not in this world to live up to your expectations,

And you are not in this world to live up to mine.

You are you, and I am I, and if by chance we find each other, it's beautiful.

If not, it can't be helped.

(Fritz Perls, 1969)

Died: Fritz died on March 14, 1970 at the age of 76 in Chicago, USA.