Bettelheim is a

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

and

Jewish family Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

History

The first bearer of the Bettelheim name is said to have lived toward the second half of the 18th century, in

Pressburg Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% of ...

(Pozsony, today

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

). To account for its origin, the following episode is related in the family records: There was a Jewish merchant in Bratislava (now in

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

) (before Pozsony), whose modest demeanor gained for him the esteem of his fellow-townsmen. He was popularly called ''"Ein ehrlich Jud"'' (honest Jew). His wife was a woman of surpassing beauty, and many magnates of the country, hearing of her charms, traveled to Pozsony to see her. Count Bethlen was particularly persistent, and, failing to attract her attention, he decided to abduct her. Mounted on his charger, he appeared one day in the

open market The term open market is used generally to refer to an economic situation close to free trade. In a more specific, technical sense, the term refers to interbank trade in securities. In economic theory Economists judge the "openness" of markets a ...

, where the virtuous woman was making purchases, and in the sight of hundreds of spectators, lifted her on his horse, and heedless of her cries of entreaty, was about to gallop off with her, when her husband appeared on the scene and, after a fierce personal combat, succeeded in rescuing her. That a Jew should engage in a hand-to-hand encounter with a nobleman of the rank of Count Bethlen was so unprecedented, and the deed itself was so daring in view of the social status of the Jews of those times (which remained unchanged until the liberal laws of Emperor

Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 unt ...

were promulgated), that the populace thenceforth styled the hero of the story ''"Bethlen-Jude"''. This name clung to him until the royal edict, bidding Jews to assume family names, went into force, and then the name was changed to "Bettelheim". Among the family relics preserved by a scion of the house in Freystadtel, on the

Waga Waga ( si, වග, ta, வாகா) is an area or a cluster of villages in Colombo District, Sri Lanka. Administrated by Seethawaka Pradeshiya Sabha (Divisional Council). It is within the Seethawaka Divisional Secretariat Division. Waga is said ...

( hu, Galgóc(z)), is an oil painting that depicts the daring rescue of Bethlen-Jude's wife from the hands of her abductor.

People

* Anton Bettelheim (1851–1930), Austrian critic and journalist * Bernard Jean Bettelheim (1811–1870), Hungarian born Christian missionary to Okinawa, the first Protestant missionary to be active there *

Bruno Bettelheim Bruno Bettelheim (August 28, 1903 – March 13, 1990) was an Austrian-born psychologist, scholar, public intellectual and writer who spent most of his academic and clinical career in the United States. An early writer on autism, Bettelheim's wo ...

(1903–1990), Austrian-born self-professed psychologist, public intellectual and author *

Charles Bettelheim Charles Bettelheim (20 November 1913 – 20 July 2006) was a French Marxian economist and historian, founder of the Center for the Study of Modes of Industrialization (CEMI : ''Centre pour l'Étude des Modes d'Industrialisation'') at thEHESS eco ...

(1913-2006), French Marxian economist and historian *

Jakob Bettelheim Jacob Bettelheim, german: Jakob Bettelheim (pseudonym: ''Karl Tellheim''; October 24 (26), 1841, Vienna – July 13, 1909, Berlin), a Jewish Austrian-German dramatist, writer, translator. He attained considerable prominence by his first attemp ...

(1841-1909), Austrian-German dramatist, writer and translator *

Leopold Bettelheim Leopold Bettelheim ( hu, Bettelheim Leopold, Bettelheim Meyer Léb, yi, Meyer Leb Bettelheim; 23 February 1777, Galgócz – 9 April 1838) was a Hungarian physician. He was not only eminent in his profession, but was considered a Hebraist of so ...

(1777-1838), Hungarian physician

Variant surnames

Stjepan Betlheim Stjepan Betlheim (22 July 1898 – 24 September 1970) was a Croatian psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. Early life and education Betlheim was born in Zagreb to a Jewish family. He studied medicine in Graz and Vienna, where he showed interest in ...

(1898–1970), prominent Croatian psychiatrist and psychoanalyst

References

* {{surname, Bettelheim Ashkenazi surnames Surnames of Hungarian origin Jewish families Hungarian families Yiddish-language surnames