Bruno Schön

Bruno Schön (born 5 May 1809, Obersandau bei Marienbad, Egerland, West Bohemia; died 1 February 1881, Vienna) was a member of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual, pastoral psychiatrist, and homeopath based in Vienna, where he ministered at an asylum.[1][2] He earned a Doctorate in Theology (1837) and in Philosophy (1867), both in Rome.[3][4]

Schön was also an author who wrote pamphlets and books on the topics of his profession, including a novel advocating for the humane treatment of the mentally ill, Mittheilungen aus dem Leben Geistesgestörter (English: Stories from the Lives of the Mentally Ill) published in 1859. This and another of his works, Briefe über Geistesgestörte für Seelsorger, Eltern, Lehrer und Freunde der Menschenkunde (English: Letters on the Mentally Disturbed for Pastors, Parents, Yourself, and Friends of Humanity) were held in the collection of the US Surgeon General's Office Library.[5] His Mittheilungen has been referenced in other works as recently as 2017.[6]

Schön courted controversy when he posited in Dr. Martin Luther aus dem Standpunkte der Psychiatrie (English: Dr. Martin Luther from the Standpoint of Psychiatry) that Luther was "mentally deranged."[7][8]

He was a close friend of Johann Emanuel Veith.[9]

Works

  • Mittheilungen aus dem Leben Geistesgestörter; Pest, Wien und Leipzig, 1859. (English: Stories from the Lives of the Mentally Ill)
  • Briefe über Geistesgestörte für Seelsorger, Eltern, Lehrer und Freunde der Menschenkunde; Pest, Wien und Leipzig, 1861. (English: Letters on the Mentally Disturbed for Pastors, Parents, Teachers, and Friends of Humanity)
  • Dr. Martin Luther aus dem Standpunkte der Psychiatrie, Wien 1874. (English: Dr. Martin Luther from the Standpoint of Psychiatry)
  • Was hat man bei lebensgefährlichen Fällen zu thun, bis der Arzt erscheint, Vienna 1875. (English: What to do with the Stricken until the Doctor Arrives)

References

  1. ^ Der Irrenhausseelsorger P. Bruno Schön (1809-1881), doctoral dissertation by Franz Pannagl, Universitat Wien, 1976. (English: The Asylum Pastor P. Bruno Schön)
  2. ^ Wurzbach, Constantin, 31 Biographisches Lexikon des Kaisertums, Oesterreich, Kaiserl.-koenigl. Hof-und Staatsdruckerei, 1876, pp. 162-3
  3. ^ Pannagl.
  4. ^ Wurzbach.
  5. ^ Index-catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon-General's Office, United States Army, 1910, p. 238.
  6. ^ Van Osselaer, Tine, de Smaele, Henk and Wils, Sign or Symptom?: Exceptional Corporeal Phenomena in Religion and Medicine in the 19th and 20th Centuries, Flanders, Leuven University Press, 2017, p. 41
  7. ^ Messenger: A Magazine of the Literature of Catholic Devotion, Volume 38, New York, The Messenger, 1917, p. 179
  8. ^ Grisar, Hartmann, Luther, vol. VI, St. Louis, B. Herder Book Company, 1902, p. 514
  9. ^ Pannagl.