Jan Theobald Held (December 11, 1770 – June 20, 1851), also known as Johann Theobald Held was a

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physician, educator, musician, and composer. He was noted for his theories on

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 ...

, and the links between psychology and environmental conditions. He served as the dean of

Charles University ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , undergr ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, and was depicted in the novel '' F. L. Věk'' by

Alois Jirásek Alois Jirásek () (23 August 1851, Hronov, Kingdom of Bohemia – 12 March 1930, Prague) was a Czech writer, author of historical novels and plays. Jirásek was a high school history teacher in Litomyšl and later in Prague until his retirement in ...

Early life and education

Jan was born in

Třebechovice pod Orebem Třebechovice pod Orebem () is a town in Hradec Králové District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,700 inhabitants. Třebechovice pod Orebem is best known for the Museum of Nativity Scenes. Administrative parts ...

on December 11, 1770. His early education took place in the town of his birth, where he received training in singing and in instrumental performance. His father died in 1780, and he was sponsored by townspeople to join a choir in

, and also to attend secondary school, where he earned a scholarship that allowed him to complete his education. In the choir he had been a

boy soprano A boy soprano (British and especially North American English) or boy treble (only British English) is a young male singer with an unchanged voice in the soprano range, a range that is often still called the treble voice range (in North America ...

, but at age 19 his voice no longer allowed this, so he turned to violin and viola performance. His teachers encouraged him to study medical science, and he received his M.D. degree in Prague in 1797. Before his father died, he had instructed Jan to pursue his fortune in a foreign country, so Held intended to follow his older brother to Poland. However, he was discouraged from doing so by the

Partition of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...

Medical career

He began practicing medicine at the

Brothers of Charity The Brothers of Charity are an international religious institute of Religious Brothers and associate members at the service of the people most in need in the field of education and health care. The institute was founded in 1807 by Peter Joseph T ...

hospital in 1799, at the invitation of his friend Daniel O'Hehir. After O'Hehir died in 1799 aged 27, Held was chosen as his successor. In 1813 he became head of the mental asylum there, working to reform patient treatment resulting in more humane care and conditions, and spending much of his own salary on improving the lives of individual patients and maintaining the hospital. He became head physician in 1822. The next year he became the chief examiner for medical exams in

. He served at Brothers of Charity until 1824. Held concluded that various forms of psychosis were of materialistic origin, and that thinking itself was a chemical process. He was an early proponent of the theory that mental health is affected by environmental conditions. For instance, in 1811 he demonstrated the correlation between state bankruptcy and the resulting decline in societal conditions, and an increase in psychological issues. He disproved a popular theory that mental disorders were increased by the appearance of a

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...

Later career

He was elected dean of

, on five occasions. He became an imperial councillor in 1841. In 1847 the physicians of Prague recognized his 50 years of service as a physician. He died in Prague on June 20, 1851.

Writings

Due to the time he devoted to patient care and the administration of the hospital, Held published fewer works than most academics of his educational position. His publications include: * ''Das Heimatsfest zu Hohenbruck, in Böhmen am 16.–18. Juli 1816'', Prague 1818 * ''Ein Wort bei der Immatriculation der an der Prager Carl-Ferdinands-Universität sich den sämmtlichen Studien der Heilkunde widmenden Zöglinge'', Vienna 1820 * ''Kurze Geschichte der Heilanstalt der Barmherzigen Brüder in Prag. Nebst Rückblicken auf Entstehung, Verbreitung und Schicksale dieses Ordens überhaupt'', Prague 1823
Digitized
* ''Tentamen historicum illustrandis rebus anno MCCCCIX in Universitate pragena gestis'', Prague 1827 * ''Blick auf Carlsbad. Ein Sendschreiben an den Herrn Johann Ritter de Carro'', Prague 1835
Digitized
* ''Ein Wort an die Zöglinge der vom Vereine für Kirchenmusik begründeten Orgelschule'', Prague 1837 * ''Zweiter Blick auf Carlsbad. Ein Sendschreiben u. s. w.'', Prague 1838

Musical contributions

In addition to the violin, he was an accomplished player of the guitar. He published a set of folk songs under the pseudonym Jan Orebský.

Legacy

Held's reputation among Czech people was improved by a romanticized depiction in the novel '' F. L. Věk'' by

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Held, Jan Theobald 1770 births 1851 deaths People from Třebechovice pod Orebem 19th-century Czech people Czech psychiatrists Czech classical composers Czech male classical composers Czech guitarists Czech male guitarists Czech violinists Czech male violinists Czech educators