Manfred S. Guttmacher papers

Manfred S. (Schanfarten) Guttmacher (1898-1966), B.A., 1919, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland; M.D., 1923, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; was a specialist in criminal psychiatry.

Manfred Guttmacher was born May 19, 1898, along with his twin brother Alan Guttmacher (1898-1974) in Baltimore, Maryland, to Adolph and Laura (Oppenheimer) Guttmacher. Manfred graduated from Student Park School in Baltimore in 1915. Both Alan and Manfred received their advanced degrees from Johns Hopkins University; Manfred recieved his B.A. in 1919 and his M.D. in 1923. Manfred held internships at the Johns Hopkins Hospital (1924-1925) and Boston Psychopathic Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (1927-1928).

Guttmacher held a position as a psychiatrist at the Maryland Mental Hygiene Clinic, Baltimore, Maryland, from 1928-1930 and was an instructor in neurology at Johns Hopkins during the same period. In 1930, he was appointed chief medical adviser at the Court Clinic for the Supreme Bench of Baltimore, a position he held until his death in 1966. During World War II, Guttmacher held the rank of lieutenant colonel with the medical corps of the United States Army and he worked as an independent consultant for the United States Army after the war.

Manfred Guttmacher specialized in criminal psychiatry, including patient care, and engaged in extensive writing and lecturing on crime and mental illness. His career included work on the definitions of insanity and the psychological requirements for responsibility for crime. He was also interested in the development of a revised penal code to replace state codes which were often inconsistent. He was involved in the development of the American Law Institute's Model Penal Code during the 1950s. This project, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, sought to establish a comprehensive penal code that could be applied across the United States. Guttmacher was an advocate of the court-appointed expert and the establishment of psychiatric clinics associated with the courts.

Guttmacher was a prolific author, publishing numerous articles and books on criminal psychiatry and psychiatry and the law. Titles include The mind of the murderer (1960), Sex offenses (1952) and Psychiatry and the law (1952), the last two co-written with Henry Weihofen (1904-1993) who also worked on the Model Penal Code project. Guttmacher was also the author of numerous articles in medical and lay journals.

Manfred Guttmacher married Jocelyn McDonough in 1928; the couple divorced in 1940. Guttmacher married Carola Blitzman (1917-) in 1946. He died November 7, 1966 in Stevenson, Maryland. At his death, Guttmacher was survived by wife Carola, and four sons: Richard, Jonathan, Laurence, and Alan Edward.