#guttmann

Apenta

Békésmegyei közlöny 1938.10.02.

The installation "False Perspective" transforms the gallery, creating a radical change in the perception of space by means of a series of devices inspired by the principles of illusion through perspective. Clegg and Guttmann separate the space into two parts. The first with a series of three-dimensional trompe l'oeil "bookshelves" which portray sections of shelving from libraries in Milan, New York and Berlin; the shelves with books on subjects related to different disciplines (geometry, architecture, psychology, linguistics, political theory and religion), although all are concerned with the theme of illusionism.

Béla Guttmann ( 27 January 1899 – 28 August 1981) was a Jewish Hungarian footballer and coach. He is best remembered as a coach and manager of some the world's leading football teams, including AC Milan, São Paulo FC and Benfica. His greatest success came with Benfica when he guided them to two successive European Cup wins in 1961 and in 1962. He also signed the legendary Eusebio, then aged 18, who went on to score 317 goals in 301 appearances for Benfica from 1960 to 1975.

The Béla Guttmann curse

Il sergente nella neve Béla Guttmann e uno dei suoi più fidi scudieri lusitani, Mário Esteves Coluna

(*Remind me never to attempt to be punny again.)

University is fun at the moment. I never thought I'd say that, but times are changing and this is one of the few positive changes. I've started work on my scarily final dissertation, and after months of panicking and trying to find a subject/a supervisor/any form of motivation, I'm now finally ready. Not only do I have a brilliant supervisor, but I have a badass area of study - the changing public attitude towards disabled people (and more specifically, how vital the role of sport has been in bringing about such a change) and it's a subject I can really get my teeth into.

I've spent the last week partially buried under a gigantuan pile of textbooks and emerged only semi-conscious (books are heavy, okay? These academics like words too much) with some pretty cool facts:

The word 'stigma' derives a Greek practice in which symbols were burnt into the skin of criminals and slaves. They became, quite literally, marked men. Later, Christian society began to apply the term to people born with blemishes and defects. Today it has a slightly different meaning, in so far as it's more of a description of an attitude surrounding a certain situation, be it disability, mental illness, underage motherhood, etc etc.

The Second World War was a massive factor in eradicating such stigma. The return of injured servicemen threw the country into cultural confusion - were they 'freaks' or could they still be heroes - even if they've had limbs amputated or suffered third degree burns?

The first recorded sport for disabled people was known as 'wheelchair polo' and was devised by the patients at Stoke Mandeville hospital, in Aylesbury. Bored with the therapeutic exercise offered to them as part of their treatment, they longed for a competitive factor and began hitting a ball around from their unwieldy wheelchairs, using upturned walking sticks. It was later developed into a team sport, until it was deemed too dangerous and banned.

The first 'official' Paralympic Games was held in Italy in 1960, and was open only to paraplegics suffering from spinal injuries. It was widely considered a huge success. Gradually people with other types of disabilities have been included, and it has grown bigger and bigger each year - with London 2012 arguably being one of the most popular and most successful Games yet.

I've also read a lot about Ludwig Guttmann, the neurosurgeon in charge of the spinal ward at Stoke Mandeville, and the father of disabled sport and the Paralympic Games as we know them today.

To say he was 'The Man' would be a massive understatement. He is one of the most inspiring figures of History I have ever been fortunate enough to study, and if I'd been born a century earlier, I might have tracked him down and forced him to marry me (in a totally non-creepy way, of course.) Sadly, being head over heels with a long dead and buried, famous neurologist doesn't say a lot for my future prospects.

Inappropriate historical crushes aside, he really was awesome. As a Jewish man, he fled Germany in 1939, but not after several movie-worthy heroics. He saved the lives of sixty fellow Jewish men on the ninth of November 1938 - Krystalnacht - by admitting them into his hospital despite them having no health problems, and inventing ailments and examinations for them when the S.S. and the Gestapo came calling the next day. Not only that, but he arranged for their escape to Czechoslovakia, before finally fleeing himself, a year later.

He settled in Oxford, content working on research, and scientific and medical experiments, but when he was offered the job of the head of a new spinal ward at Stoke Mandeville, he took it - on the premise that he could apply his own theories of treatment without interruption. "Ward X" was officially opened in February 1944, and consisted of only 26 beds.

His methods of treating paralysis were revolutionary, to say the least. As a young man, he'd witnessed a paraplegic die five weeks after a mining accident, from a urinary tract infection and the resulting sepsis. Before Guttmann, there wasn't really anything that could be done for paraplegics. They were effectively left to die from bedsores and infection, and life expectancy was rarely more than three months or so. Guttmann believed that although full mobility could never be restored, there was a chance for these men to live a full life. He began by reducing the risk of bedsores and infection, but possibly the most important thing he did was to restore the mental health and the morale of the patients.

This was largely done by providing them with entertainment and the chance to exercise - throwing and catching balls not only gave them something to do other than basket making, but also helped them build compensatory muscles in their upper bodies, which in turn offered them better mobility. The competitive factor which made it 'sport' rather than just exercise, was, as I've already mentioned, a product of the patients themselves. When Guttmann saw what they were doing, he and a colleague spent hours in wheelchairs, developing the game. It became incredibly important in alleviating the inevitable depression that was a result of their condition, and gave them a sense of purpose in life.

Although the governmental policy at that time was to rehabilitate recently disabled people for the workplace (the post war economic climate demanded that all that could work, must work) Guttmann turned his focus on sport, first and foremost. The first competitive game between patients on the Stoke Mandeville ward and those from a nearby sheltered home was held in 1948, and drew a crowd of ten thousand paying spectators. 

Since then, para-sport has been an important part of life for many disabled people, and Guttmann's determination, drive and energy is largely to thank. Something that was originally set about as a form of therapy and medical practice now serves as entertainment as well. Today, disabled athletes are held in equal regard to non-disabled athletes by the spectating public - an equality that really helps kick stigma up the backside.

Had it not been for the understated Jewish surgeon fleeing from the Nazi regime, it might never have been established. And that, in itself, is a scary thought.

Sapete dove e quando sono nati gli sport per disabili?  Bisogna tornare indietro di ben 64 anni e andare a Stoke Mandeville, in Inghilterra:

Nell’estate del 1948 Sir Ludwig Guttmann organizzò una competizione sportiva per consentire ai suoi pazienti di fare sport in un evento ufficiale e questo accadde in concomitanza delle Olimpiadi di Londra, così prese il via il parallelo tra giochi olimpici e giochi paralimpici. Nei primi giochi del 1948 ci furono solo sedici partecipanti, quattordici uomini e due donne, che gareggiarono nel cortile dell’ospedale in sport come il tiro con l’arco. Fu veramente un festival per lo sport, un divertimento per i pazienti con lesioni spinali.