Maximilian Leidesdorf (27 June 1818 – 9 October 1889) was an Austrian

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

born in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. He was the son of the composer Maximilian Joseph Leidesdorf. In 1845 he received his medical doctorate from 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 ...

, afterwards visiting asylums in Italy, Germany, England and France. In 1856 he received his habilitation in Vienna, where he practiced medicine for the remainder of his career. In 1872 he became head of the department of

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

Vienna General Hospital The Vienna General Hospital (), usually abbreviated to AKH, is the general hospital in Vienna, Austria. It is also the city's university hospital, and the site of the Medical University of Vienna. It is Europe's fifth largest hospital, b ...

, followed by an appointment in 1875 as director of the ''Landesirrenanstalt'' (State Lunatic Asylum). One of his famous assistants was

Julius Wagner-Jauregg Julius Wagner-Jauregg (; 7 March 1857 – 27 September 1940) was an Austrian physician, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1927, and is the first psychiatrist to have done so. His Nobel award was "for his discovery of the therape ...

(1857-1940), winner of the 1927

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine () is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, acco ...

. Much of his written work dealt with the correlation between physical and mental illnesses. With

Theodor Meynert Theodor Hermann Meynert (; 15 June 1833 – 31 May 1892) was a German-Austrian psychiatrist, neuropathologist, and anatomist, born in Dresden. Meynert believed that disturbances in brain development could be a predisposition for psychiatric illne ...

(1833-1892), he was co-founder of the quarterly psychiatric journal ''Vierteljahresschrift für Psychiatrie''. In 1876 he was summoned to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

to examine the mental state of dethroned Sultan

Murad V Murad V (; ; 21 September 1840 – 29 August 1904) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 30 May to 31 August 1876. The son of Abdulmejid I, he supported the conversion of the government to a constitutional monarchy. His uncle Abdulaziz ...

, and in 1886 was asked for advice on the mental condition of

King Ludwig II of Bavaria Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886), also called the Swan King or the Fairy Tale King (), was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke ...

Written works

* ''Beiträge zur Diagnostik und Behandlung der Primären Formen des Irreseins'',

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its c ...

, (1855) * ''Das Römerbad Tüffer in Steiermark'', Vienna, (1857). * ''Compendium der Psychiatrie für Aerzte und Studirende'', (1860). * ''Pathologie und Therapie der psychischen Krankheiten'',

Erlangen Erlangen (; , ) is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative district Erlangen), and with 119,810 inhabitants (as of 30 September 2024), it is the smalle ...

, (1860). * ''Erläuterungen zur Irrenhausfrage Niederösterreichs'', Vienna, (1868). * ''Vierteljahresschrift für Psychiatrie'' (with

). * ''Psychiatrische Studien aus der Klinik Leidesdorf'', (1877). * ''Das Traumleben'', Vienna, (1880).

External links

Pagel: Biographical Dictionary
(translated biography)
''Max Leidesdorf''
@

Jewish Encyclopedia ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on the ...

Photo of Max Leidesdorf
@

AEIOU Encyclopedia Austria-Forum is a freely accessible online collection of reference works on Austria in German language, German, with some articles in English language, English, initiated by Graz University of Technology, TU Graz. As of 2022, Austria-Forum has be ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leidesdorf, Maximilian 1818 births 1889 deaths Psychiatrists from Austria-Hungary Scientists from Vienna Burials at Döbling Cemetery Physicians from the Austrian Empire