Bernard Jean Bettelheim Bernard Jean Bettelheim ( 1811 , Pressburg - February 9 , 1870 ) was a Christian missionary to Okinawa , the first Protestant missionary to be active there . Biography . Bettelheim was born into a noted Jewish family in Pressburg , Slovakia , in 1811 . He studied , from a very early age , towards the goal of becoming a rabbi . It is said that by the age of ten he could read and write in French , German , and Hebrew , though if his biographies are to be believed , he left home at 12 to become a teacher and continued his studies at five different schools . Bettelheim earned a degree in medicine from a school in Padua , Italy in 1836 , and is said to have gone on to file no fewer than 47 " scientific dissertations " within the following three years . He traveled much in these years , practicing medicine in a number of Italian cities , aboard an Egyptian naval vessel , and in a Turkish town called Magnesia , where , in 1840 , he began studying Christianity . He converted to Christianity , and was baptized a short time later , in Smyrna . During his time in Turkey , he held theological debates with local rabbis and published pamphlets on the matter in French ; after facing salary disputes in Constantinople and resigning his post , Bettelheim made his way to London , where he hoped to gain authorization from the Church of England to preach to the Jewish communities of the Mediterranean . During this time , he became associated with a number of other prominent missionaries to the Far East , including Dr . Peter Parker , Karl Gützlaff , and missionary to Africa David Livingstone . Following several months of disputes with the Church of England , who refused to recognize his European degrees , insisted he study at Oxford or Cambridge , and were suspicious of someone who had so recently converted from Judaism , Bettelheim abandoned that particular quest , though he remained in London . Bettelheim became a naturalized British subject sometime later , married the daughter of a prominent thread producer , and , in 1844 , his first child was born ; she was named Victoria Rose . Following further disputes with various Christian organizations , including the " London Society for Promoting Christianity Among the Jews " ( a Jewish Christian missionary society now known as the Church ' s Ministry Among Jewish People or CMJ ) , he accepted an appointment as medical missionary to Naha with the Loochoo Naval Mission . Leaving from Portsmouth on 9 September 1845 , the Bettelheims arrived in Hong Kong in January the following year ; their second child , Bernard James Gutzlaff Bettelheim , was born en route , at sea . After several months in Hong Kong , studying Chinese and mingling with British missionary society there , Bettelheim departed for Okinawa with his family in April 1846 . In Okinawa . Bettelheim arrived in Okinawa from Hong Kong on April 30 , 1846 , accompanied by his wife , Elizabeth M . , their infant daughter , Victoria Rose ( born 1844 ) , their infant son , Bernard James ( born November 1845 ) , " Miss Jane " , a tutor and schoolmistress , and Liu Yu - Kan , a Cantonese translator , on board the British ship " Starling " . The ship was welcomed at Naha by the local port master , who objected to the missionary ' s disembarking ; the " Starling ' s " captain did not challenge him , and aimed to keep the Bettelheims on board . However , Dr . Bettelheim had other ideas . He bribed several members of the crew to help him in transporting his possessions into the Okinawan ships , while the doctor invited a number of Okinawan dockhands below decks , and entertained them with drink . Intoxicated , the Okinawans were persuaded to take the Bettelheims , and their possessions ashore ; when they arrived it had already grown dark and was too late to turn back . The local officials offered the family shelter in the Gokoku - ji temple for the night , and the priests in residence there left , out of respect for the women ' s privacy . The following morning , the Bettelheims refused to leave . They would remain in the Gokoku - ji for seven years . Bettelheim kept the rightful residents of the temple , and lay worshipers , away in part by accusing them of seeking importune glimpses of his wife . He threw out a number of objects he deemed to be " the heathen furniture of idolatry " , and considered his occupation of the temple , against the wishes of the local officials , a small victory for Christianity , over this heathen nation . While on Okinawa , a second daughter was born to the Bettelheims on December 8 , 1848 . She was named Lucy Fanny Loochoo and carries the distinction of being the first European to be born on Okinawa . Liu Yu - Kan , Bettelheim ' s interpreter , left Okinawa in March 1849 after conflict developed between him and the family and began working with Okinawa authorities against Bettelheim ' s interests . Bettelheim sought to ingratiate himself to the local officials by offering to teach a variety of subjects , including English , geography , and astronomy , and to offer medical services for the locals , but was refused ; he was , however , provided a tutor for the study of Chinese . His attitude and actions towards the Okinawan authorities has been described as rude and extravagant , and one foreign visitor to the island noted that Bettelheim and the authorities were " living in a state of undisguised hostility " . Locals were forbidden from selling to foreigners , and merchants often abandoned their stands when the Bettelheims approached , for fear of being accused of dealing with the foreigners ; the Bettelheims simply took whatever they desired , and left as much coin as they deemed fit . The doctor also developed a habit of invading private homes where he sought to preach . He disturbed public meetings , distributed pamphlets which were confiscated by the " metsuke " ( magistrates ) and preached loudly outside the gates to Shuri Castle . On one occasion , after being thrown out of a private home , he was beaten and stoned by a number of guards . Soon , a guardpost was established just outside the Gokoku - ji , and guards were assigned to accompany Dr . Bettelheim as he journeyed around Naha , Shuri , and the surrounding countryside . Before long , he attracted the attention of the lords of Satsuma Domain in Japan , to which the Ryūkyū Kingdom was a vassal , as well as the Chinese authorities in Fukien , who took up the matter with British officials in Canton and Hong Kong ; the doctor ' s embarrassing activities were obscured from his sponsors and related organizations in London , for a time . Throughout his time on Okinawa , Bettelheim kept diaries zealously , and remained in contact with his British sponsors , writing numerous letters . He claimed to have mastered the Okinawan language , to have written a translation of the Scriptures into Okinawan ( in " kana " script ) , and to have engaged common Okinawan people in intense theological debate , though historian George H . Kerr expressed doubts ; these claims were more likely gross exaggerations , misconceptions on Bettelheim ' s part , or pure fictions . He faced a great many obstacles in Okinawa , and blamed most of these difficulties on the Ryukyuan government , accusing them of conspiring against him , or chose to view them as his being tested by God or foiled by the Devil . He deemed himself interpreter for any Westerners who should arrive , rushing down to the beach upon seeing such a ship . He was also often made to translate petitions from the Ryukyuan government asking the newly arrived foreigners to take Dr . Bettelheim with them ; he is said to have translated and delivered these petitions faithfully and unashamedly . By 1849 , Bettelheim ' s activities came to the attention of the highest levels in London . Despite a great personal distaste for Bettelheim on the part of several high officials , an opportunity was seen to somehow take advantage of the situation to press for use of Naha as a neutral trading ground , and as a stepping stone or base of operations from which to apply pressure to Japan . Efforts were made to use Bettelheim as an intermediary to these ends , but the Ryukyuan government refused to trade , citing their laws against it ( imposed upon them as part of Japan ' s " kaikin " policy ) and their lack of surplus goods to trade ; in addition , British authorities soon came to realize that Bettelheim was essentially useless , having no true knowledge of the workings of the kingdom or its trade policies , and no significant successes as a missionary . It was decided that the only dangers to Bettelheim were those he brought upon himself , but in the end Queen Victoria ' s government decided to send ships now and then to look after him . In response to these visits , and other factors , Ryukyuan controls over Bettelheim and the Gokoku - ji were tightened , and his interactions with the Ryukyuan government or common people severely reduced . When Commodore Matthew Perry came to Japan in 1854 , Bettelheim went aboard his ship to meet him . As before , through his understanding of the language and culture , Bettelheim presented himself as uniquely qualified to present the Ryukyuan position on various matters to the Americans . Bettelheim clashed with various members of Perry ' s mission , particularly the Chinese - language translator S . Wells Williams , and with the Ryukyuan government in his efforts to aid the Americans ; at one point he helped a number of Americans break into a schoolhouse in Tomari with the intention of making it into lodgings for the Americans ; they were ultimately refused and expelled from the schoolhouse by local officials . He was , however , quite deferential to Perry and aimed to aid him however possible . Despite being disfavored by the local government , Perry was determined to use Bettelheim to serve the interests of the United States of America . Bettelheim was helpful to Perry as an advisor , representative and commercial agent . Much to the relief of the Okinawa government , Mrs . Bettelheim and the children departed the island in February 1854 , on board the USS " Supply " bound for Shanghai ; Bernard followed them in July 1854 , Commodore Perry having finally given in to a Ryukyuan entreaty that he take Dr . Bettelheim away . Bettelheim intended to return to England but eventually ended up in New York . After a few years he relocated his family to a farm in Illinois . From August to December , 1863 , he served as a surgeon in the 106th Regiment , Illinois Volunteer Infantry . After the American Civil War he relocated to Odell , Illinois and operated a drugstore , occasionally giving lectures about Okinawa and Japan . Later , the Bettelheims moved to Brookfield , Missouri . Bettelheim died February 9 , 1870 at age 59 and is buried with his wife in Brookfield , Missouri . In May 1926 a memorial to honor Bettelheim was unveiled on the grounds of his former residence on Okinawa at the Gokoku - ji .