Egon Hynek Kodicek, 3 August 1908 - 27 July 1982

Abstract

Egon Hynek Kodicek was born on 3 August 1908 at Kamenny Ujezd, a little village on the river Moldau in southern Bohemia, which at that time was part of the Austro -Hungarian Empire. He was an only child and his father was a general medical practitioner, trained in Vienna. Egon’s father was widely known in the region for his expert diagnostic skills. Using only his senses of touch, vision and smell he was able correctly to identify disease processes where other doctors would need the help of hospital facilities. As a doctor he was much influenced by the teaching of Sigmund Freud and he was one of the first to use psychological methods, when appropriate, in the treatment of disease. Egon admired and had an enormous respect for his father and sometimes would accompany him in his horse-drawn carriage on visits to patients. When Egon was 6 years old the family moved to nearby Budweis, where his father had been appointed doctor-in-charge of the military hospital there. Although his grandparents on both sides w ere orthodox Jews, Egon’s parents were not religious and he described him self and his father as ‘Czech liberals’