Andreas Ludwig Jeitteles

Andreas Ludwig Joseph Heinrich Jeitteles or, in Czech, Ondřej Ludvík Jeitteles was a physician, author of medical literature, journalist, politician, poet and writer; under the pseudonym, Justus Frey. He lived in the Austrian Empire and later in Austria-Hungary.

Biography

He was born as Aaron Jeitteles to a prominent Jewish family; established in Prague since at least 1615. His great-grandfather, Mischel Loeb, was a physician and early promoter of variolation for smallpox. Aaron was a pupil of the philosopher, Bernard Bolzano, and a close friend of the playwright, Karl Egon Ebert, and the painter, Josef Führich.
He graduated from the primary schools of Prague at the age of fifteen, then studied medicine at Charles University. Later, he attended the University of Vienna, where he was awarded his Doctorate in 1825. In 1828, he converted to Christianity and was baptized as "Andreas Ludwig Joseph Heinrich". From 1829 to 1835, he was first a Proctor, then a Professor in the Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine at the University in Vienna. After 1835, he was a professor at Palacký University Olomouc, where he became a Rector in 1842.
During the Revolution of 1848, he became involved as a liberal publicist and was elected as a representative to the Frankfurt Parliament. He was initially an independent, but soon became attached to the left-wing faction of Ludwig Feuerbach. Disappointed by his efforts to promote fundamental rights, he resigned in January, 1849. He returned to Olomouc, where he worked until 1869.
He had started writing poetry while still in high school. On the occasion of his centenary, his son published Gesammelte Dichtungen, in the series Bibliothek der Deutschen Schriftstener aus Böhmen. His poems emphasized justice and freedom, hence the pseudonym, "Justus Frey". He also wrote "hymns" about Jan Hus and Jerome of Prague, criticizing what he called the "darkness" of the Catholic Church. In a later poem, Warnung, possibly expressing his own regrets, he advised young Jews to adhere to their ancient religion.
In the field of medical writing, he is perhaps best known for his new edition of Beschreibung des Ganzen Menschlichen Körpers by Johann Christoph Andreas Mayer. In 1832, he began to promote the use of psychology in the diagnosis and treatment of disease.
His son Ludwig Heinrich Jeitteles became a zoologist, prehistorian and teacher while another son Adalbert became a Germanist and librarian.