Bernard Jean Bettelheim
Bernard Jean Bettelheim (* 1811 in Bratislava , † February 9, 1870 in Brookfield , Missouri) was a British doctor and Protestant missionary of Hungarian-Jewish origin. He was the first Protestant missionary to Okinawa and served there from April 1846 to July 1854.
Life
Early years
Bettelheim came from a family of Hungarian Jews. He studied medicine and received a doctorate.
Missionary to Okinawa
Bettelheim arrived in Okinawa from Hong Kong on April 30, 1846. He was brought by a British schooner , the Starling, under the command of Captain McCheyne. The Starling had been diverted from its regular route from Hong Kong to Formosa at a very high cost to bring Bettelheim's tour company ashore on Okinawa. The following were disembarked on Okinawa: Dr. Bernard Jean Bettelheim; his wife, Elizabeth M .; her little daughter Rose (born 1844); her young son Bernard James (born Nov, 1845); a Miss Jane, the head of house for the children; and Liu Yu-Kan, a cantonese who was supposed to serve as a translator. While they were living in Okinawa, the Bettelheims had a second daughter on December 8, 1848, who was named Lucy Fanny Loochoo and the first child to be born to Europeans in Okinawa. Liu Yu-Kan, Bettelheim's interpreter, left Okinawa in March 1849 after a conflict developed between the two and began working with the Okinawa authorities against the interests of Bettelheim.
Lew Chew's authorities were extremely dissatisfied with Bettelheim's presence in Okinawa and openly stated this in a letter to Commodore Perry dated July 10, 1854.
“Some French officers came in 1844 and 1846, and the Englishman Bettelheim also brought his wife and children here to live here, and they all demand that they be given something daily, to our constant annoyance and trouble. Whenever an English or French ship came in, we would explain these grievances seriously to them and ask them to take these people away with them. The French, aware of our needs, went to their own country in 1848 and have not yet returned; but Bettelheim stayed here for many years and did not leave, and now he has also brought Moreton and his family here to take up residence here, to the great discomfort of the people ... "
By the time Perry reached Naha in May 1853 , he was already familiar with Bettelheim's reputation. In his personal diary he noted:
“Anyone who has heard of the Lew Chew Islands recently has heard of a Mr. Bettelheim, an English missionary who has lived with his family for seven years in the presence of these unique people, which Great Lew Chew inhabit, and that in direct contradiction to their wishes. "
Next life
Much to the relief of Lev Chewan's government, Mrs. Bettelheim and the children left Okinawa on a supply ship in February 1854. Bettelheim himself left on the Powhatan in July 1854 . He intended to return to England but ended up in New York. After a few years he and his family moved to a farm in Illinois . From August to December 1863, he served as a military doctor in the 106th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment. After the Civil War , he moved to Odell, Illinois , where he ran a drug store and lectured on Okinawa and Japan . The Bettelheims later moved to Brookfield, Missouri. Bettelheim died in 1870 at the age of 59 and is buried with his wife in Brookfield, Missouri.
Aftermath
On May 18, 1926, a memorial was unveiled in Bettelheim's honor on the site of his former home on Okinawa in Gokoku-ji, a Buddhist temple.
Works published in print
- Jesus Without Moses and Elias: A Sermon. 1843. (Printed sermon, 16 pp.)
- Report of the Loo-Choo Naval Mission. 1847.
- With John L. Burt: Meteorological Observations, Napa-Keang, (Loo-Choo,) 1848-49. In: Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. Volume 10, Part 17, 1853.
- Loochoo Mission: Extracts from the Journal of the Society's Missionary, Dr. Bettelheim, 1850-1852. 1852.
- Bettelheim translated parts of the New Testament , these were published under the title Ryukyu-Yaku Fukuinsho ( Ryūkyū - Translation of the Gospel ) in Hong Kong in 1852 and 1855.
literature
- AP Jenkins (Ed.): The Journal and Official Correspondence of Bernard Jean Bettelheim 1845–54 . 沖 縄 県 史 / 沖 縄 県 教育 庁 文化 財 課 史料 編 集 班 編. Part 2. Ikemiya Shouten, Okinawa 2012, ISBN 978-4-87180-024-2 (English, Japanese).
- Peter Parker (Ed.): Letter from BJ Bettelheim, MD Printed at the office of the Chinese repository, 1852.
- William Gerald Beasley: The Perry Mission to Japan, 1853-1854. Psychology Press, 2002, ISBN 978-1-903350-13-3
Web links
- Bernard Jean Bettelheim - Medical Missionary on Okinawa - April 1846 to July 1854. Retrieved June 4, 2015 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Bernard Jean Bettelheim - Medical Missionary on Okinawa - April 1846 to July 1854. Retrieved June 4, 2015 .
- ^ In: Matthew Calbraith Perry: Narrative of the Expedition to Japan and the China Seas, 1852-4 . Volume 1, p. 498
- ^ Memorial Stone to Bettelheim Unveiled at Gokokuji, Loo Choo. Mounment [sic!] To Bettelheim . In: The Japan Advertiser . Tokyo May 25, 1926 ( transcript [accessed June 4, 2015]).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bettelheim, Bernard Jean |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | evangelical missionary |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1811 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bratislava |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 9, 1870 |
| Place of death | Brookfield, Missouri |