[2] He is best known for his research on temperament and bipolar disorder (manic depression), revolutionizing the field of clinical psychiatry.

[2] Hagop Souren Akiskal was born on 16 January 1944, in Beirut, Lebanon, to Armenian parents.

Akiskal then worked for several years as a clinician and mood disorders researcher and Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology at the University of Tennessee, Memphis.

His research on cyclothymia paved the way for understanding the childhood antecedents of bipolarity, and helped in the worldwide renaissance of the temperament field.

Akiskal died of natural causes on January 20, 2021, at age 77, in La Jolla in San Diego, California.