Stjepan Betlheim (22 July 1898 – 24 September 1970) was a

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n psychiatrist and psychoanalyst.

Early life and education

Betlheim was born in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

to a

Jewish 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""The ...

family. He studied medicine in

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, where he showed interest in psychoanalysis and attended lectures of

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies explained as originatin ...

. He graduated in 1922. Betlheim specialised in neuropsychiatry in Vienna,

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

, and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. During his specialisation, he published six articles in distinguished Austrian and German neurological or neuropsychiatric journals.

Career and later life

He worked at the Vienna neuropsychiatric clinic headed by

Julius Wagner-Jauregg Julius Wagner-Jauregg (; 7 March 1857 – 27 September 1940) was an Austrian physician, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1927, and is the first psychiatrist to have done so. His Nobel award was "for his discovery of the therapeu ...

. After the first analysis with Paul Schilder, Betlheim completed his training with

Sandor Rado Sandor Rado ( hu, Radó Sándor; 8 January 1890, Kisvárda – 14 May 1972, New York City) was a Hungarian psychoanalyst of the second generation, who moved to the United States of America in the 1930s. According to Peter Gay, "Budapest produce ...

. Betlheim's first analyses were supervised by

Karen Horney Karen Horney (; ; 16 September 1885 – 4 December 1952) was a German psychoanalyst who practised in the United States during her later career. Her theories questioned some traditional Freudian views. This was particularly true of her theories of ...

and Helene Deutsch. He returned to Zagreb in 1928. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, in 1941, the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist It ...

authorities sent Betlheim,

Stjepan Steiner Stjepan Steiner (16 October 1915 – 18 January 2006) was a Croatian physician, cardiologist, Major general in the Yugoslav People's Army and personal physician of Josip Broz Tito. Early life and family Steiner was born into a middle class J ...

and 80 other Jewish physicians to

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...

to treat endemic syphilis. He later escaped and joined the

Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод ...

. After the war, in 1948, he became an assistant at the Neurologic-psychiatric Clinic of the

School of Medicine, University of Zagreb The School of Medicine ( hr, Medicinski fakultet or MEF) in Zagreb is a Croatian medical school affiliated with the University of Zagreb. It is the oldest and biggest of the four medical schools in Croatia (the other three being in Osijek, Rijeka ...

, where he introduced the psychoanalytical dimension into the understanding of mental illness. He became a member of the International Psychoanalytical Association in 1952. Betlheim further developed the group therapy for sexual disorders. In 1953 Betlheim founded the ambulatory psychotherapeutic ward, the first in Croatia, at the neurologic-psychiatric Clinic of the School of Medicine, University of Zagreb and neuropsychiatric clinic at the University Hospital Centre Zagreb. Parallel to his therapeutic work, Betlheim was also a prolific scientist and teacher.

Personal life and death

Betlheim was married to Marie Luise (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Morgenroth) with whom he had a daughter named Ruth. Until his death Betlheim treated patients, taught and did scientific research. He was buried at the Mirogoj Cemetery.

Honors

In 1998

Croatian Post Croatian may refer to: *Croatia *Croatian language *Croatian people *Croatians (demonym) See also * * * Croatan (disambiguation) * Croatia (disambiguation) * Croatoan (disambiguation) * Hrvatski (disambiguation) * Hrvatsko (disambiguation) * Se ...

issued a stamp to honor him. A Bust of Prof. Dr. Stjepan Betlheim is placed in front of the University Hospital Centre Zagreb. His daughter wrote a book about the life of her father, which was issued and presented in 2006 at the Jewish community in Zagreb.

Works

* ''Psihijatrija'', 1959 * ''Neuroze i njihovo lečenje'', 1963 * ''O govornim omaškama u Korsakovljevoj psihozi'', 1989 * ''Snovi u psihoterapiji'', 1993 * ''Radovi, pisma, dokumenti : 1898–1970'', 2006

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Betlheim, Stjepan 1898 births 1970 deaths Physicians from Zagreb Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery Croatian Jews Jews from Austria-Hungary Croatian Austro-Hungarians Croatian psychiatrists Jewish physicians Yugoslav Partisans members Croatian people of World War II Yugoslav physicians