The Epilepsy of Fyodor Dostoievski

Extract

Kretschmer, in his Psychology of Men of Genius, drew attention to the frequent association of psychopathy in the mental make-up of individuals so gifted and so able as to be readily included in the class of “men of genius.” Of all the individuals whom Kretschmer discusses, Dostoievski is the only one who is known for certainty to have been epileptic. Both the prophet Mohamet and the apostle Paul are mentioned as being traditionally regarded as having suffered from this malady, but for obvious reasons it is impossible to be certain of this. That an individual who ranks amongst the world's greatest novelists should, throughout his life, have suffered from epilepsy is in itself a remarkable and possibly unique thing. It is therefore of some interest to inquire in what manner epilepsy manifested itself in Dostoievski, how it influenced his work, and what light, if any, the manifestation of this condition in an individual of such intellectual power, throws on the nature of the epileptic state itself.