Edward Charles Spitzka: Difference between revisions
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'''Edward Charles Spitzka''' (November 10, 1852 |
'''Edward Charles Spitzka''' (November 10, 1852 – January 13, 1914) was an eminent late-19th century [[Psychiatrist|alienist]], [[neurologist]], and [[anatomist]]. Dr. Spitzka was the author of the landmark psychiatric manual ''"Treatise on Insanity, Its Classification, Diagnosis and Treatment"'' published in 1883. He pioneered studies of the anatomy of the human nervous system. |
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==Education== |
==Education== |
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Spitzka was born in New York City, the son of Charles A. Spitzka and Johanna née Tag. He attended Public School No. 35, the College of the City of New York, and the Medical Department of the [[University of the City of New York]], where he graduated in 1873. He spent the next three years in Europe, where he studied at the medical schools of the [[University of Leipzig]] and the [[University of Vienna]]. From 1874 to 1875 he served as an assistant to the chair of embryology at the |
Spitzka was born in New York City, the son of Charles A. Spitzka and Johanna née Tag. He attended Public School No. 35, the College of the City of New York, and the Medical Department of the [[University of the City of New York]], where he graduated in 1873. He spent the next three years in Europe, where he studied at the medical schools of the [[University of Leipzig]] and the [[University of Vienna]]. From 1874 to 1875 he served as an assistant to the chair of embryology at the University of Vienna. |
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==Career== |
==Career== |
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In 1876 Spitzka returned to New York City, specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of internal diseases, particularly of the human nervous system. He practiced surgery at [[Mount Sinai Hospital, New York|Mount Sinai Hospital]] and was a consulting neurologist to the North-Eastern Dispensary and St. Mark's Hospital. He was a professor of nervous and mental diseases and of medical jurisprudence at the New York Post-Graduate Medical College from 1882 to 1887. In 1890, Spitzka served as |
In 1876 Spitzka returned to New York City, specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of internal diseases, particularly of the human nervous system. He practiced surgery at [[Mount Sinai Hospital, New York|Mount Sinai Hospital]] and was a consulting neurologist to the North-Eastern Dispensary and St. Mark's Hospital. He was a professor of nervous and mental diseases and of medical jurisprudence at the New York Post-Graduate Medical College from 1882 to 1887. In 1890, Spitzka served as president of the [[American Neurological Society]]. In 1883/1884, he served as president of the [[New York Neurological Society]]. He was a founding member of the [[American Anthropometric Society]] whose purpose was to collect the brains of eminent scientists to further brain science.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Spitzka |first1=Edward Anthony |title=A Study of the Brains of Six Eminent Scientists and Scholars Belonging to the American Anthropometric Society, together with a Description of the Skull of Professor E. D. Cope |journal=Transactions of the American Philosophical Society |series=New Series |date=1907 |volume=1 |issue=4 |page=176 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1005434 |access-date=3 January 2024}}</ref> |
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[[File:WmKmlr-execution.gif|thumb|right|200px|The execution of William Kemmler.]] |
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[[File:WmKmlr-execution.gif|thumb|right|80pixels|The execution of William Kemmler.]] |
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The first passage of current through Kemmler's body caused him to lose consciousness, but Kemmler was still breathing and his heart continued to beat. Spitzka came forward to examine Kemmler. After confirming Kemmler was still alive, Spitzka cried out, "Have the current turned on again, quick, no delay." In the second attempt, 2,000 volts of electricity passed through Kemmler's body. |
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Kemmler's execution took approximately eight minutes. [[George Westinghouse]] later said: "They would have done better using an axe."{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}} A reporter who witnessed the execution wrote that it was "an awful spectacle, far worse than hanging." |
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==Trial of Charles J. Guiteau== |
==Trial of Charles J. Guiteau== |
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The trial was one of the first high-profile cases in the United States where the insanity defense was considered. |
The trial was one of the first high-profile cases in the United States where the insanity defense was considered. |
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While on the stand, Spitzka testified that he had "no doubt" that Guiteau was both insane and "a moral monstrosity." Spitzka came to the conclusion that Guiteau had "the insane manner" he had so often observed in asylums, adding that Guiteau was a "morbid egotist" who "misinterpreted and overly personalized the real events of life."<ref>[ |
While on the stand, Spitzka testified that he had "no doubt" that Guiteau was both insane and "a moral monstrosity." Spitzka came to the conclusion that Guiteau had "the insane manner" he had so often observed in asylums, adding that Guiteau was a "morbid egotist" who "misinterpreted and overly personalized the real events of life."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=yugiq9WFES4C&dq=spitzka+garfield+assassination&pg=PA278 ''The Trial of the Assassin Guiteau: Psychiatry and the Law in the Gilded Age'' By Charles E. Rosenberg]</ref> |
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Guiteau was found guilty of assassinating Garfield, despite his lawyers raising an insanity defense. He was sentenced to death, and executed by hanging on June 30, 1882, in Washington, D.C. |
Guiteau was found guilty of assassinating Garfield, despite his lawyers raising an insanity defense. He was sentenced to death, and executed by hanging on June 30, 1882, in Washington, D.C. |
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(Nearly twenty years later, Spitzka's son, [[Edward Anthony Spitzka]], a distinguished brain anatomist, would perform the autopsy on [[Leon Czolgosz]], the assassin of President [[William McKinley]]). |
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==Death== |
==Death== |
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Spitzka died on January 13, 1914. In his |
Spitzka died on January 13, 1914. In his obituary ''[[The New York Times]]'' reported that Spitzka, "the noted neurologist, anatomist and alienist, who has been ill for some time of necrosis of the upper jaw, died suddenly yesterday morning of apoplexy at his home, 66 East Seventy-third Street, at the age of 61 years.".<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30D1FF8345F13738DDDAD0994D9405B848DF1D3 The New York Times, January 14, 1914.]</ref> |
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==Selected |
==Selected bibliography== |
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*[ |
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=yKYYAAAAYAAJ&q=edward+spitzka ''Insanity, Its Classification, Diagnosis, and Treatment: a Manual,'' by Edward Charles Spitzka, 1883] |
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*[http://journals.lww.com/jonmd/Citation/1880/04000/Art__IV__THE_ARCHITECTURE_AND_MECHANISM_OF_THE.4.aspx ''The Architecture and Mechanism of the Brain,'' Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease: April 1880 |
*[http://journals.lww.com/jonmd/Citation/1880/04000/Art__IV__THE_ARCHITECTURE_AND_MECHANISM_OF_THE.4.aspx ''The Architecture and Mechanism of the Brain,'' Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease: April 1880 – Volume 7 – Issue 2 – ppg 208–249] |
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“The Legal Disabilities of Natural Children Justified Biologically and Historically,” ''The Alienist and Neurologist'' (1899–1902). |
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“Mental Disease, Forensic Medicine,” ''The Medical Critic'' (1902). |
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“Political Assassins: Are They All Insane?” ''The Journal of Mental Pathology'' 2(2) (1902): 69–82 and 2(3) (1902): 121–139. |
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Brill, Nathan Edwin. “In Memoriam Dr. Charles Edward Spitzka,” ''New York Medical Journal'' 99 (May 9, 1914): 935–937. |
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Dana, Charles L. “Early Neurology in the United States,” ''Journal of the American Medical Association'' 90(18) (1928): 1421–1424. |
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==References== |
==References== |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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*{{Cite Appletons'|Spitzka, Edward Charles|year=1900|notaref=x}} |
*{{Cite Appletons'|wstitle=Spitzka, Edward Charles|year=1900 |notaref=x |short=x}} |
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*{{Cite NIE|Spitzka, Edward Charles|year=1905}} |
*{{Cite NIE|wstitle=Spitzka, Edward Charles|year=1905 |short=x}} |
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{{authority control}} |
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{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. --> |
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| NAME = Spiztka, Edward Charles |
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| ALTERNATIVE NAMES = |
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| DATE OF BIRTH = November 10, 1852 |
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| PLACE OF BIRTH = New York City, New York, USA |
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| DATE OF DEATH = January 13, 1914 |
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| PLACE OF DEATH = |
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}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Spiztka, Edward Charles}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spiztka, Edward Charles}} |
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[[Category:1852 births]] |
[[Category:1852 births]] |
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[[Category:American anatomists]] |
[[Category:American anatomists]] |
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[[Category:American neurologists]] |
[[Category:American neurologists]] |
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[[Category:American physicians]] |
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[[Category:American psychiatrists]] |
[[Category:American psychiatrists]] |
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[[Category:Physicians from New York]] |
[[Category:Physicians from New York City]] |
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[[Category:Members of the American Anthropometric Society]] |
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[[Category:New York University alumni]] |
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{{Link GA|pl}} |
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[[pl:Edward Charles Spitzka]] |
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Latest revision as of 21:47, 19 February 2024
Edward Charles Spitzka (November 10, 1852 – January 13, 1914) was an eminent late-19th century alienist, neurologist, and anatomist. Dr. Spitzka was the author of the landmark psychiatric manual "Treatise on Insanity, Its Classification, Diagnosis and Treatment" published in 1883. He pioneered studies of the anatomy of the human nervous system.
Education
[edit]Spitzka was born in New York City, the son of Charles A. Spitzka and Johanna née Tag. He attended Public School No. 35, the College of the City of New York, and the Medical Department of the University of the City of New York, where he graduated in 1873. He spent the next three years in Europe, where he studied at the medical schools of the University of Leipzig and the University of Vienna. From 1874 to 1875 he served as an assistant to the chair of embryology at the University of Vienna.
Career
[edit]In 1876 Spitzka returned to New York City, specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of internal diseases, particularly of the human nervous system. He practiced surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital and was a consulting neurologist to the North-Eastern Dispensary and St. Mark's Hospital. He was a professor of nervous and mental diseases and of medical jurisprudence at the New York Post-Graduate Medical College from 1882 to 1887. In 1890, Spitzka served as president of the American Neurological Society. In 1883/1884, he served as president of the New York Neurological Society. He was a founding member of the American Anthropometric Society whose purpose was to collect the brains of eminent scientists to further brain science.[1]
Spitzka was the attending physician at the execution of William Kemmler in New York's Auburn Prison on August 6, 1890, the first execution using the new electric chair. During the execution he confirmed Kemmler to be dead, only for it to be discovered that he was in fact, not.
Trial of Charles J. Guiteau
[edit]
In 1881, Spitzka was an expert witness at the trial of Charles J. Guiteau, who was accused of the assassination of United States President James A. Garfield.
The trial was one of the first high-profile cases in the United States where the insanity defense was considered.
While on the stand, Spitzka testified that he had "no doubt" that Guiteau was both insane and "a moral monstrosity." Spitzka came to the conclusion that Guiteau had "the insane manner" he had so often observed in asylums, adding that Guiteau was a "morbid egotist" who "misinterpreted and overly personalized the real events of life."[2]
Guiteau was found guilty of assassinating Garfield, despite his lawyers raising an insanity defense. He was sentenced to death, and executed by hanging on June 30, 1882, in Washington, D.C.
(Nearly twenty years later, Spitzka's son, Edward Anthony Spitzka, a distinguished brain anatomist, would perform the autopsy on Leon Czolgosz, the assassin of President William McKinley).
Death
[edit]Spitzka died on January 13, 1914. In his obituary The New York Times reported that Spitzka, "the noted neurologist, anatomist and alienist, who has been ill for some time of necrosis of the upper jaw, died suddenly yesterday morning of apoplexy at his home, 66 East Seventy-third Street, at the age of 61 years.".[3]
Selected bibliography
[edit]- Insanity, Its Classification, Diagnosis, and Treatment: a Manual, by Edward Charles Spitzka, 1883
- The Architecture and Mechanism of the Brain, Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease: April 1880 – Volume 7 – Issue 2 – ppg 208–249
“The Legal Disabilities of Natural Children Justified Biologically and Historically,” The Alienist and Neurologist (1899–1902).
“Mental Disease, Forensic Medicine,” The Medical Critic (1902).
“Political Assassins: Are They All Insane?” The Journal of Mental Pathology 2(2) (1902): 69–82 and 2(3) (1902): 121–139.
Brill, Nathan Edwin. “In Memoriam Dr. Charles Edward Spitzka,” New York Medical Journal 99 (May 9, 1914): 935–937.
Dana, Charles L. “Early Neurology in the United States,” Journal of the American Medical Association 90(18) (1928): 1421–1424.
References
[edit]- ^ Spitzka, Edward Anthony (1907). "A Study of the Brains of Six Eminent Scientists and Scholars Belonging to the American Anthropometric Society, together with a Description of the Skull of Professor E. D. Cope". Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. New Series. 1 (4): 176. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
- ^ The Trial of the Assassin Guiteau: Psychiatry and the Law in the Gilded Age By Charles E. Rosenberg
- ^ The New York Times, January 14, 1914.
External links
[edit]- . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1900.
- . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
