Baron Ernst von Feuchtersleben (full name: Ernst Maria Johann Karl ''Freiherr'' von Feuchtersleben; 29 April 18063 September 1849), was an Austrian physician, poet and philosopher. He was a member of the
von Feuchtersleben Family
The term ''von'' () is used in German language surnames either as a nobiliary particle indicating a noble patrilineality, or as a simple preposition used by commoners that means ''of'' or ''from''.
Nobility directories like the ''Almanach de Go ...
Life
He was born as a son of Ernst von Feuchtersleben (1765–1834). He was of an old
Saxon
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
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peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
noble family.
His older half-brother was
Eduard von Feuchtersleben
Eduard Freiherr von Feuchtersleben (1798–1857) was a Kraków-born mining engineer and writer.
Biography
Von Feuchtersleben was born in . His parents were Josephine (1772–1801) and Ernst von Feuchtersleben (1765–1834), an engineer from Hild ...
(1798–1857), son of Ernst von Feuchtersleben from his first marriage.
His father, a man of serious and stern character, attained the rank of
aulic councillor in the Austrian civil service.
He attended the
Theresian Academy
Theresianum (or Theresian Academy; german: Theresianische Akademie) is a private boarding and day school governed by the laws for public schools in Vienna, Austria. It was founded in 1746 by Empress Maria Theresa of Austria.
History
Early h ...
in his native city, and in 1825 entered its university as a student of medicine. In 1833 he obtained the degree of doctor of medicine and settled in Vienna as a practicing surgeon. In 1834 he married. The young doctor kept up his connection with the university, where he lectured, and in 1844 was appointed dean of the faculty of medicine.
He cultivated the acquaintance of
Franz Grillparzer
Franz Seraphicus Grillparzer (15 January 1791 – 21 January 1872) was an Austrian writer who was considered to be the leading Austrian dramatist of the 19th century. His plays were and are frequently performed at the famous Burgtheater in Vien ...
,
Heinrich Laube
Heinrich Laube (18 September 1806 – 1 August 1884), German dramatist, novelist and theatre-director, was born at Sprottau in Prussian Silesia.
Life
He studied theology at Halle and Breslau (1826–1829), and settled in Leipzig in 1832. Here h ...
, and other intellectuals in Vienna. He interested himself greatly in educational matters, and in 1848, while refusing the presidency of the ministry of education, accepted the appointment of under secretary of state in that department. In this capacity he attempted to introduce some important reforms in the system of education, but, discouraged by the difficulties which he encountered, he resigned in December of the following year. His health gave way, and he died at Vienna on 3 September 1849.
His family now lives in
Melbourne, Australia
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metropol ...
.
He is the great-great-grandfather of Australian film director and cinematographer
Karl von Möller
Karl von Möller (born 11 December 1969) is an Australian cinematographer and film maker. He is best known for ''Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!'', ''D'art'' and Storm Warning (2007 film), Storm Warning.
Early life ...
.
Works
Among his medical works were ''Über das hippokratische erste Buch von der Diät'' (Vienna, 1835) and ''Lehrbuch der ärztlichen Seelenkunde'' (1845).
The latter was translated into English two years later as 'The Principles of Medical Psychology'. It is often credited as a first notable use of the term
psychopathy
Psychopathy, sometimes considered synonymous with sociopathy, is characterized by persistent Anti-social behaviour, antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and Boldness, bold, Disinhibition, disinhibited, and Egotism, egotistical B ...
, used with a broad meaning more accurate to its etymological literal sense (mental disorder) than today's usage. It has also often been credited with the coining of the term
psychosis
Psychosis is a condition of the mind that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not real. Symptoms may include delusions and hallucinations, among other features. Additional symptoms are incoherent speech and behavior ...
, which at that time had a similarly broad meaning to psychopathy, but this has since been traced back to
Karl Friedrich Canstatt
Karl Friedrich Canstatt (11 July 1807, in Regensburg – 10 March 1850, in Erlangen) was a German physician and medical author.
Biography
He received his education at the University of Vienna, followed by studies under Johann Lukas Schönlein at ...
's Handbuch der Medicinischen Klinik (1841).
His poetical works include ''Gedichte'' (Stutt. 1836), among which is the well-known beautiful hymn, which
Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositi ...
set to music, ''Es ist bestimmt in Gottes Rat''. As a philosopher he is best known by his ''Zur Diätetik der Seele'' ("Dietetics of the soul") (Vienna, 1838), which attained great popularity, and the tendency of which, in contrast to
Hufeland's ''Makrobiotik'' ("On the Art of Prolonging Life"), is to show the true way of rendering life harmonious and lovely. This work had by 1906 gone into fifty editions. Noteworthy also is his ''Beiträge zur Literatur-, Kunst- und Lebenstheorie'' (Vienna, 1837–1841), and an anthology, ''Geist der deutschen Klassiker'' (Vienna, 1851; third ed. 1865–1866). His collected works (with the exception of the purely medical ones) were published in 7 vols. by Fr. Hebbel (Vienna, 1851–1853). See M. Necker, "Ernst von Feuchtersleben, der Freund Grillparzers," in the ''Jahrbuch der Grillparzer Gesellschaft'', vol. iii (Vienna, 1893). According to the
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Eleventh Edition'', "He was a poet of fine aesthetical taste and a philosopher."
Notes
References
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External links
The principles of medical psychology, being the outlines of a course of lectures
The dietetics of the soul*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Feuchtersleben, Ersnt von, Baron
Austrian surgeons
19th-century Austrian poets
Austrian male poets
Austrian medical writers
Barons of Austria
Austrian people of German descent
Writers from Vienna
1806 births
1849 deaths
Austrian people of Nigerian descent
German-language poets
19th-century male writers
Von Feuchtersleben Family