Bernard Jean Bettelheim (1811, Pressburg - d. February 9, 1870) was a Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 missionary

Missionary

A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...

 to Okinawa, the first Protestant missionary to be active there.

Biography

Bettelheim was born into a noted Jewish

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

 family in Pressburg, Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

, in 1811. He studied, from a very early age, towards the goal of becoming a rabbi

Rabbi

In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...

. It is said that by the age of ten he could read and write in French, German, and Hebrew, though if his biographies are to be believed, he left home at 12 to become a teacher and continued his studies at five different schools. Bettelheim earned a degree in medicine from a school in Padua

Padua

Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 in 1836, and is said to have gone on to file no fewer than 47 "scientific dissertations" within the following three years. He traveled much in these years, practicing medicine in a number of Italian cities, aboard an Egyptian naval vessel, and in a Turkish town called Magnesia, where, in 1840, he began studying Christianity. He converted to Christianity, and was baptized

Baptism

In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...

 a short time later, in Smyrna

Smyrna

Smyrna was an ancient city located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Thanks to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence. The ancient city is located at two sites within modern İzmir, Turkey...

.

During his time in Turkey, he held theological debates with local rabbis and published pamphlets on the matter in French; after facing salary disputes in Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

 and resigning his post, Bettelheim made his way to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, where he hoped to gain authorization from the Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

 to preach to the Jewish communities of the Mediterranean. During this time, he became associated with a number of other prominent missionaries to the Far East, including Dr. Peter Parker

Peter Parker (physician)

Peter Parker was an American physician and a missionary who introduced Western medical techniques into Qing Dynasty China. It was said that Parker "opened China to the gospel at the point of a lancet."- Early life :...

, Karl Gützlaff

Karl Gützlaff

Karl Friedrich August Gützlaff , anglicised as Charles Gutzlaff, was a German missionary to the Far East, notable as one of the first Protestant missionaries in Bangkok, Thailand and for his books about China. He was one of the first Protestant missionaries in China to dress like a Chinese...

, and missionary to Africa David Livingstone

David Livingstone

David Livingstone was a Scottish Congregationalist pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and an explorer in Africa. His meeting with H. M. Stanley gave rise to the popular quotation, "Dr...

. Following several months of disputes with the Church of England, who refused to recognize his European degrees, insisted he study at Oxford or Cambridge, and were in any case quite suspect of someone who had so recently converted from Judaism, Bettelheim abandoned that particular quest, though he remained in London.

Bettelheim became a naturalized British subject sometime later, married the daughter of a prominent thread producer, and, in 1844, his first child was born; she was named Victoria Rose. Following further disputes with various Christian organizations, including the London Society for Promoting Christianity Among the Jews (a Jewish Christian missionary society now known as the Church's Ministry Among Jewish People

Church's Ministry Among Jewish People

Church's Ministry Among Jewish People is an Anglican missionary society founded in 1809.-History:...

 or CMJ), he accepted an appointment as medical missionary to Naha with the Loochoo Naval Mission. Leaving from Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

 on 9 September 1845, the Bettelheims arrived in Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

 in January the following year; their second child, Bernard James Gutzlaff Bettelheim, was born en route, at sea. After several months in Hong Kong, studying Chinese and mingling with British missionary society there, Bettelheim departed for Okinawa with his family in April 1846.

In Okinawa

Bettelheim arrived in Okinawa from Hong Kong on April 30, 1846, accompanied by his wife, Elizabeth M., their infant daughter, Victoria Rose (born 1844), their infant son, Bernard James (born November 1845), "Miss Jane", a tutor and schoolmistress, and Liu Yu-Kan, a Cantonese translator, on board the British ship Starling. The ship was welcomed at Naha by the local port master, who objected to the missionary's disembarking; the Starling's captain did not challenge him, and aimed to keep the Bettelheims on board. However, Dr. Bettelheim had other ideas. He bribed several members of the crew to help him in transporting his possessions into the Okinawan ships, while the doctor invited a number of Okinawan dockhands below decks, and entertained them with drink. Intoxicated, the Okinawans were persuaded to take the Bettelheims, and their possessions ashore; when they arrived it had already grown dark and was too late to turn back. The local officials offered the family shelter in the Gokoku-ji

Gokoku-ji (Okinawa)

' is a Buddhist temple in Naha, Okinawa. Established in 1367, the temple served as a major national temple for the Okinawan kingdom of Chūzan and the unified Ryūkyū Kingdom which would follow. It is perhaps most well-known for its associations with Christian missionary Dr...

 temple for the night, and the priests in residence there left, out of respect for the women's privacy. The following morning, the Bettelheims refused to leave. They would remain in the Gokoku-ji for seven years.

Bettelheim kept the rightful residents of the temple, and lay worshipers, away in part by accusing them of seeking importune glimpses of his wife. He threw out a number of objects he deemed to be "the heathen furniture of idolatry", and considered his occupation of the temple, against the wishes of the local officials, a small victory for Christianity, over this heathen nation.

While on Okinawa, a second daughter was born to the Bettelheims on December 8, 1848. She was named Lucy Fanny Loochoo and carries the distinction of being the first European

European ethnic groups

The ethnic groups in Europe are the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....

 to be born on Okinawa. Liu Yu-Kan, Bettelheim's interpreter, left Okinawa in March 1849 after conflict developed between him and the family and began working with Okinawa authorities against Bettelheim's interests. Bettelheim sought to ingratiate himself to the local officials by offering to teach a variety of subjects, including English, geography, and astronomy, and to offer medical services for the locals, but was refused; he was, however, provided a tutor for the study of Chinese. His attitude and actions towards the Okinawan authorities has been described as rude and extravagant, and one foreign visitor to the island noted that Bettelheim and the authorities were "living in a state of undisguised hostility". Locals were forbidden from selling to foreigners, and merchants often abandoned their stands when the Bettelheims approached, for fear of being accused of dealing with the foreigners; the Bettelheims simply took whatever they desired, and left as much coin as they deemed fit. The doctor also developed a habit of invading private homes where he sought to preach. He disturbed public meetings, distributed pamphlets which were confiscated by the metsuke

Metsuke

' were the censors or the inspectors of Tokugawa Japan. They were bakufu officials ranking somewhat lower than the bugyō. The metsuke were charged with the special duty of detecting and investigating instances of maladministration, corruption or disaffection anywhere in Japan; and particularly...

(magistrates) and preached loudly outside the gates to Shuri Castle

Shuri Castle

Shuri Castle is a gusuku in Shuri, Okinawa. It was the palace of the Ryūkyū Kingdom. In 1945, during the Battle of Okinawa, it was almost completely destroyed...

. On one occasion, after being thrown out of a private home, he was beaten and stoned by a number of guards. Soon, a guardpost was established just outside the Gokoku-ji, and guards were assigned to accompany Dr. Bettelheim as he journeyed around Naha, Shuri, and the surrounding countryside. Before long, he attracted the attention of the lords of Satsuma Domain in Japan, to which the Ryūkyū Kingdom

Ryukyu Kingdom

The Ryūkyū Kingdom was an independent kingdom which ruled most of the Ryukyu Islands from the 15th century to the 19th century. The Kings of Ryūkyū unified Okinawa Island and extended the kingdom to the Amami Islands in modern-day Kagoshima Prefecture, and the Sakishima Islands near Taiwan...

 was a vassal, as well as the Chinese authorities in Fukien

Fujian

' , formerly romanised as Fukien or Huguing or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...

, who took up the matter with British officials in Canton

Guangzhou

Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...

 and Hong Kong; the doctor's embarrassing activities were obscured from his sponsors and related organizations in London, for a time.

Throughout his time on Okinawa, Bettelheim kept diaries zealously, and remained in contact with his British sponsors, writing numerous letters. He claimed to have mastered the Okinawan language

Okinawan language

Central Okinawan, or simply Okinawan , is a Northern Ryukyuan language spoken primarily in the southern half of the island of Okinawa, as well as in the surrounding islands of Kerama, Kumejima, Tonaki, Aguni, and a number of smaller peripheral islands...

, to have written a translation of the Scriptures into Okinawan (in kana

Kana

Kana are the syllabic Japanese scripts, as opposed to the logographic Chinese characters known in Japan as kanji and the Roman alphabet known as rōmaji...

script), and to have engaged common Okinawan people in intense theological debate, though historian George H. Kerr

George H. Kerr

George H. Kerr , also known in Taiwan as 葛超智 , was a United States diplomat during World War II, and in later years he was an author and an academic...

 expressed doubts; these claims were more likely gross exaggerations, misconceptions on Bettelheim's part, or pure fictions. He faced a great many obstacles in Okinawa, and blamed most of these difficulties on the Ryukyuan government, accusing them of conspiring against him, or chose to view them as his being tested by God or foiled by the Devil. He deemed himself interpreter for any Westerners who should arrive, rushing down to the beach upon seeing such a ship. He was also often made to translate petitions from the Ryukyuan government asking the newly arrived foreigners to take Dr. Bettelheim with them; he is said to have translated and delivered these petitions faithfully and unashamedly.

By 1849, Bettelheim's activities came to the attention of the highest Cabinet

Cabinet of the United Kingdom

The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, composed of the Prime Minister and some 22 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers....

 levels in London. Despite a great personal distaste for Bettelheim on the part of several high officials, an opportunity was seen to somehow take advantage of the situation to press for use of Naha as a neutral trading ground, and as a stepping stone or base of operations from which to apply pressure to Japan. Efforts were made to use Bettelheim as an intermediary to these ends, but the Ryukyuan government refused to trade, citing their laws against it (imposed upon them as part of Japan's kaikin policy) and their lack of surplus goods to trade; in addition, British authorities soon came to realize that Bettelheim was essentially useless, having no true knowledge of the workings of the kingdom or its trade policies, and no significant successes as a missionary. It was decided that the only dangers to Bettelheim were those he brought upon himself, but in the end Queen Victoria's government decided to send ships now and then to look after him. In response to these visits, and other factors, Ryukyuan controls over Bettelheim and the Gokoku-ji were tightened, and his interactions with the Ryukyuan government or common people severely reduced.

When Commodore Matthew Perry came to Japan in 1854, Bettelheim went aboard his ship to meet him. As before, through his understanding of the language and culture, Bettelheim presented himself as uniquely qualified to present the Ryukyuan position on various matters to the Americans. Bettelheim clashed with various members of Perry's mission, particularly the Chinese-language translator S. Wells Williams, and with the Ryukyuan government in his efforts to aid the Americans; at one point he helped a number of Americans break into a schoolhouse in Tomari

Tomari

Tomari is a coastal town in Sakhalin Oblast, Russia, located on the western coast of Sakhalin 167 km north-west of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Population: 5,338 ; 8,121 .-History:The town was founded in 1870...

 with the intention of making it into lodgings for the Americans; they were ultimately refused and expelled from the schoolhouse by local officials. He was, however, quite deferential to Perry and aimed to aid him however possible. Despite being disfavored by the local government, Perry was determined to use Dr. Bettelheim to serve interests the interests of the United States of America

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Bettelheim was helpful to Perry as an advisor, representative and commercial agent.

Much to the relief of the Okinawa government, Mrs. Bettelheim and the children departed the island in February 1854, on board the USS Supply bound for Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

; Bernard followed them in July 1854, Commodore Perry having finally given in to a Ryukyuan entreaty that he take Dr. Bettelheim away. Dr. Bettelheim intended to return to England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 but eventually ended up in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. After a few years he relocated his family to a farm in Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

. From August to December, 1863, he served as a surgeon in the 106th Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry. After the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 he relocated to Odell, Illinois and operated a drugstore, occasionally giving lectures about Okinawa and Japan. Later, the Bettelheims moved to Brookfield, Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

. Dr. Bettelheim died February 9, 1870 at age 59 and is buried with his wife in Brookfield, Missouri.

In May 1926 a memorial to honor Dr. Bettelheim was unveiled on the grounds of his former residence on Okinawa at the Gokoku-ji.

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