Benda, Clemens E. (Clemens Ernst), 1898-

Benda (Berlin, M.D. 1922) was a psychiatrist in Germany until 1935. In 1936 he became clinical director of Wrentham State School in Massachusetts; from 1947 to 1962 he was director of research in clinical psychiatry at Walter E. Fernald State School in Waverley, Mass.; and he also taught at various medical schools in the Boston area, including Harvard. He was a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and specialized in the field of human development and existential psychiatry.

From the description of Papers of Clemens Benda, 1910-1973 (bulk). (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 122413150

Clemens Ernst Benda, M.D., was born in Berlin, Germany on 30 May 1898. His father was pathologist, Carl Benda, M.D., and his mother's family had a number of prominent Protestant theologians.

Benda studied philosophy and medicine at the Universities of Berlin, Jena, and Heidelberg. In 1922 he received the Doctor of Medicine degree. He began his medical career in Berlin and later became an Assistant at the Psychiatric Clinic in Heidelberg. He studied existential philosophy with Karl Jaspers and psychiatry with Karl Bonhoeffer and Eugene Bleuer. He developed a close relationship with several European psychologists and existentialists of the 1920s and 1930s. From 1924-1925 he worked from time to time with Ludwig Binswanger in Switzerland. In the early 1930's he became editor of “Die Medizinische Welt” (The Medical World), a journal with a socio-philosophic slant.

In 1935, Benda was forced to leave Germany because of the growing political tensions. Because there was “Jewish blood” in his father's family, he felt compelled to immigrate to the United States, settling in Boston with his wife, Elizabeth, who was also a physician, and their two young sons.

Benda began his career in the United States working with Stanley Cobb, M.D., at Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1936, Benda became Director of the Wallace Research Laboratory for the Study of Mental Deficiency at the Wrentham State School in Wrentham, Mass. where he remained until 1947. During this time period, he was also Director of the Children's Unit at the Metropolitan State Hospital in Waltham, Mass. In 1947, he became Director of Research and Clinical Psychiatry at the Walter E. Fernald State School in Waltham, Mass. until he retired in 1962 or 1963 (sources differ). Following his retirement, he continued his private psychiatric and counseling practice until his death in 1975.

During his 40-year career in the United States he held academic appointments at a number of universities and medical schools. These appointments included instructor of neuro-pathology and psychiatry at Harvard Medical School (through his affiliation with Massachusetts General Hospital's Department of Psychiatry); associate professor of abnormal psychology at Clark University; lecturer at the Institute of Pastoral Care at Massachusetts General Hospital; lecturer at Tufts Medical School; and assistant professor of psychology at Boston University School of Theology.

Benda was affiliated with several professional associations, holding the presidency of both the American Association of Neuropathologists and the American Academy of Mental Retardation. He was a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and the American Medical Association and a member of the American Association for Mental Retardation.

Benda's research interests included Down's syndrome (mongolism) and cretinism, mental retardation, neuropathology, and existential psychology and psychiatry.

From the guide to the Clemens E. Benda papers, 1895-1975, (Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine.Center for the History of Medicine.)