BETTELHEIM

BETTELHEIM, family originating from Pozsony (bratislava , Pressburg), formerly in Hungary. According to tradition, one of its forebears frustrated a plot by the count of Bethlen to abduct his wife, and for this feat was called "Bethlen-Jude," which later became Bettelheim. The first noted member of the family, LOEB BETTELHEIM, served as dayyan in Pozsony in 1709. LIPOT LEOPOLD (MEYER LEB) BETTELHEIM (1777–1838) was physician to the count in Galgoc (now Hlohovec) and a noted Hebraist. MOSES BETTELHEIM (beginning of the 19th century) was head of the Jewish community in Pozsony. His son, FÜLÖP (RAPHAEL), represented the Orthodox Jews in Pozsony at the assembly of Jewish delegates held in Pest in 1868. samuel bettelheim was a journalist and editor. Prominent members of the family outside Hungary include Albert (Aaron) Siegfried Bettelheim , rabbi, publicist, and physician. KARL BETTELHEIM (1840–1895), also a physician, became head of a Vienna clinic and the editor of Medizinisch-Chirurgische Rundschau (1870–78). -BIBLIOGRAPHY: EẒD, 1 (1958), 272–4; S. Federbush, Ḥokhmat Yisrael be-Ma'arav Eiropah, 2 (1963), 371–2. (Jeno Zsoldos)