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 psychoanalysis and attended lectures of Sigmund Freud. He graduated in 1922. Betlheim specialised in neuropsychiatry in Vienna, Berlin, Zürich, and Paris. 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. After the first analysis with Paul Schilder, Betlheim completed his training with Sandor Rado. Betlheim's first analyses were supervised by Karen Horney and Helene Deutsch. He returned to Zagreb in 1928. During World War II, in 1941, the Independent State of Croatia authorities sent Betlheim, Stjepan Steiner and 80 other Jewish physicians to Bosnia to treat endemic syphilis. He later escaped and joined the Yugoslav Partisans.

Personal life and death Betlheim was married to Marie Luise (née Morgenroth) with whom he had a daughter named Ruth. Until his death Betlheim treated patients, taught and did scientific research.

Honors In 1998 Croatian Post issued a stamp to honor him. 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