Heinrich Neumann Ritter von Héthárs (10 June 1873, in Héthárs (

Lipany Lipany ('lindens;' , , all lit. 'seven lindens') is a town in the Sabinov District, Prešov Region in northeastern Slovakia. History The first written mention about Lipany comes from 1312. It gained town privileges in the 16th century. Geog ...

), then

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, now

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, 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 west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

– 6 November 1939, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

) was the foremost ear-nose-and-throat doctor in Vienna before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1938 he transmitted to the Evian Conference the infamous offer by the German government to sell the Austrian Jews at a price of $250 per capita to any foreign country that would accept them and pay. This offer - and the Conference delegates' refusal to accept it - is the focal point of Hans Habe's novel '' The Mission'' (1965).

Life

Heinrich Neumann studied at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

, finishing with a doctorate in 1898. Already whilst a student he concerned himself with work on the normal and pathological anatomy of the ear in Anton Weichselbaum’s institute. He subsequently worked in

Adam Politzer Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam sin ...

's private laboratory, and in 1900 he entered the university ear clinic, becoming assistant in 1903. In 1911 he became titular professor of

otology Otology is a branch of medicine which studies normal, pathological anatomy and physiology of the ear (hearing). Otology also studies vestibular sensory systems, related structures and functions, as well as their diseases, diagnosis and trea ...

. From 1910 on he was the ear surgeon at the Spital der Kaufmannschaft (Merchants' Hospital), and from 1912 on head of the otology department of the Franz-Josef-Ambulatorium. In 1919 he became professor extraordinary and head of the university clinic for diseases of the ear, nose and larynx, succeeding Viktor Urbantschitsch. Neumann was known as the King's Doctor. Years prior to the Anschluss, in 1935, he was contacted by Nazi Party doctors about a larynx problem that Adolf Hitler was suffering from. Prof. Dr. von Neumann, as he was by then known, refused to consider Hitler's case, explaining in his reply, that if the operation failed, it "might be construed as being connected with the fact that he is a Jew."The Palestine Post⁩, 10 November 1935⁩
"Hitler Summons Jewish Surgeon." (United Press)

... King's Doctor Dr. Neumann was understood to have replied that although he feels greatly honoured by the invitation, he felt obliged to decline because in case his treatment is not successful, the lack of success might be construed as being connected with the fact that he is a Jew. Neumann who has treated many members of royalty, is known as the King's doctor. He recently treated the Prince of Wales for ear trouble.

Neumann was also sought by

Galeazzo Ciano Gian Galeazzo Ciano, 2nd Count of Cortellazzo and Buccari ( , ; 18 March 1903 – 11 January 1944), was an Italian diplomat and politician who served as Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Minister in the government of his father-in-law ...

, Mussolini's son-in-law and Italy's then Foreign Minister.Jewish Post, Indianapolis, Marion County, 17 November 1939

CLINICAL NOTE The death in New York of Prof. Heinrich Neumann, the world famed specialist who numbered the great of the world among his patients, recalls to Ed Kleinlerer, our former Rome correspondent, an interesting anecdote. ... It concerns Count Ciano, II Duce’s son-in-law and Foreign Minister. . . . Who, during a visit to Vienna before the Anschluss, came to Dr. Neumann for treatment of a throat ailment. . . . The treatment required considerable time. . . . Ciano couldn’t arrange to stay that long in Vienna. ... So upon his return to Rome, he arranged to have the specialist invited to lecture at Rome University so that he could be treated by him during his stay. . . . Fate, however, in the person of the Horrid Housepainter, intervened. . . . Vienna was "Anschlussed," and with it Neumann was jailed. . .

After the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

, Neumann was imprisoned for being a Jew. He was married once in 1912 to Melitta von Neumann née Koppel. They had three children, Lisa Rosenblatt, Murli von Neumann and Johnny von Neumann (not to be confused with

John von Neumann John von Neumann ( ; ; December 28, 1903 – February 8, 1957) was a Hungarian and American mathematician, physicist, computer scientist and engineer. Von Neumann had perhaps the widest coverage of any mathematician of his time, in ...

the mathematician), who became a well-known racing driver and entrepreneur.

Work

Neumann was particularly recognized for his works on painless operations on bone without anaesthetics, on the clinics and pathology of intracranial complications of infections of the middle ear, equilibrium, and otosclerosis. Neumann devised a new and life-saving operation for opening the labyrinth, a technique that has later been general practice. Named after him is Neumann's Method which is a manner to apply local anaesthesia of the middle ear and the

mastoid process The mastoid part of the temporal bone is the posterior (back) part of the temporal bone, one of the bones of the skull. Its rough surface gives attachment to various muscles (via tendons) and it has openings for blood vessels. From its borders, t ...

by a

procaine Procaine is a local anesthetic drug of the amino ester group. It is most commonly used in dental procedures to numb the area around a tooth and is also used to reduce the pain of intramuscular injection of penicillin. Owing to the ubiquity of ...

adrenaline Adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, is a hormone and medication which is involved in regulating visceral functions (e.g., respiration). It appears as a white microcrystalline granule. Adrenaline is normally produced by the adrenal glands a ...

injection on the surface of the mastoid process along the connection of the inner and outer ear and under the periost of the auditory meatus.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neumann von Hethars, Heinrich 1873 births 1939 deaths People from Lipany 19th-century Austrian people 19th-century Hungarian people Austrian otolaryngologists Hungarian nobility Hungarian Jews University of Vienna alumni Heinrich Austrian emigrants to the United States Physicians from Austria-Hungary