Detre_Katalin_Egy_johazbol_valo_urilany

The present case study about the life and career of physiotherapist Irén Preisich is part of a comprehensive research project exploring the social history of the art of movement in Hungary. The art of movement is an umbrella term for all physical culture movements which put into practice the aspirations of the artistic, pedagogical and life reform movements that emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century. From the beginning of the twentieth century onwards, the Hungarian institutionalization of the movement, encompassing a wide range of trends and approaches, had a determining role in the professionalization of both dance artist training and physiotherapy. The exceptionally rich collection of sources, documenting the history of the Preisich family from the perspective of the individuals, provides insight into the period when these professionalization processes were developing jointly between the two world wars. The sources cast light on the functioning of the schools of the art of movement, the methods of knowledge transfer, the career prospects of early-career movement artists, the family conflicts behind career choices, the conflicts within the profession, as well as the drastic effects of contemporary politics on professional and private life. The recollections of the pediatrician father not only broaden the time horizon of the study, but nuance and deepen its reconstruction of the social background, and show the opportunities, constraints and conflicts of the members of the medical profession in his segment of society.