8 Soviet geniuses diagnosed with schizophrenia by doctors

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Great and terrible, their genius was not just akin to illness, but was it. Individuals who determined the historical face of their time, changed the thinking of their contemporaries and left an indelible mark, often suffered from various forms of schizophrenia. However, for their descendants, their diagnosis rather remained a "special form of thinking", thanks to which they managed to achieve tremendous success in the field of literature, cinema, theater and science.

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

(1857-1935) - scientist, inventor, founder of Soviet cosmonautics.

The future scientist, from the very childhood, was different from his peers. After suffering scarlet fever, he lost his hearing and was unable to study in a regular school. This made him unsociable, overly cautious, and even frightened. He had a tube installed through which he could hear, but his poor hearing was compensated by an excellent memory.

A sociophobe by nature, throughout his life he surprised others with his antics, sometimes addressing them through the inscriptions that he installed on the roof of his barn. For example, it could be: "Residents of Kaluga, we have forgotten how to admire the stars!" or "Tomorrow is the day of honoring the clouds."

All these oddities were not without reason, after 30 he had changes in his psyche, which were expressed by fear of people. In addition, the scientist has had such cases in the family history. His colleagues at school treated him with a condescension bordering on disdain. He refused gatherings, did not drink, did not accept gifts from students.

He felt and realized his illness and often, during exacerbations, when he suffered from depression (especially during the construction of the first theories) and was sure that the heavenly forces had chosen him in order to bring new knowledge to this world, and as luck would have it, unsociable and eccentric.

He constantly wanted to get in touch with space, he dreamed of humanoid figures. He assumed that other forms of life live on Earth that are invisible to other people, but get in touch with the scientist, transferring valuable knowledge to him. He was sure that people can move to other planets and if it were not for this controversial idea, perhaps there would have been no other open ones made in an attempt to prove his main theory.

The psychiatrist who studied the genius of Tsiolkovsky unequivocally claims that without his thinking outside the human boundaries of reason, there would be no brilliant discoveries. At the same time, he had a full set of symptoms characteristic of a schizophrenic - hallucinations, strange thinking, the birth of unlikely combinations and associations. The latter, by the way, is typical for both schizophrenics and those who invent something new.

Daniil Andreev

(1906-1959) - philosopher, poet, writer.

In modern conditions, teachers might have sounded the alarm and showed little Daniel to a psychologist, but he grew up at a time when the system worked in a different way. He was brought up without a mother, and he was told that the deceased mother and grandmother flew to heaven. The yearning for his family, the boy did not think of anything better than drowning himself in order to arrange a meeting with his mother. At that time he was 6 years old, they managed to save him.

His room was decorated with a map of the planet, which he invented and drew himself, but this was not enough, a history was created, up to the time of the reign of sovereigns, their portraits were drawn. This other, parallel reality, the presence of which he felt all the time, was there throughout his life. For psychologists, this is one of the symptoms of personality destruction.

Already when he, having graduated from a secondary educational institution, enters a literary institute, he begins to behave strangely. For example, he refuses to wear shoes and can walk barefoot in the snow, surprising many who come across him. Later, in order not to shock passers-by, he cut off the sole from the shoe to visually be shod, but still be barefoot.

He worked almost his entire life as a graphic designer, but those who knew him claim that he possessed some kind of unimaginable speech, he could say what an ordinary person would not be able to express in words, new invented words constantly appeared in his vocabulary. and phrases.

In 1947, anti-Soviet propaganda was seen in his new novel and he was charged, then his wife asks for a forensic psychiatric examination. However, she does not come to any unambiguous conclusion. Andreev still remains in prison and continues to write anyway. In conclusion, his seizures intensify, more and more often he begins to fall into another, parallel world. Those who saw how he wrote said that there was a feeling that he was not composing, but barely had time to write for someone dictating.

There is an opinion that it was prison isolation that revealed the capabilities of the writer, who was physically chained to one place, and imprisonment was boundless in his thoughts, the lack of external connections only deepened him into the world of fantasy.

Ekaterina Savinova

(1926-1970) - Soviet film actress.

After she refused the eminent director and the same womanizer Ivan Pyriev, her career as an artist went downhill, the number of roles decreased, and it was not at all to play something really worthwhile. But her husband, also director Yevgeny Tashkov, loved his wife too much to allow her talent and cheerfulness to fade away.

The film "Come Tomorrow" and the role of Frosy, which has become a cult, was invented especially for her, but what is there, she acted as a prototype. However, already while working on this film, the actress complained about her health, she constantly kept a certain temperature. The survey did not give any special results, the shooting continued.

But the attentive spouse, who spent all his time with his wife, nevertheless noticed some oddities in her. Either she sharply wanted to be alone, and she behaved very coldly, then she suddenly began to be afraid of the things and situations that were usual until then. And then it turned out that she was dreaming of voices.

Soviet doctors diagnosed her with brucellosis, allegedly the actress got infected by drinking unprocessed fresh milk, against this background she developed schizophrenia.

Over time, the course of the disease became more difficult, she lost her memory, stopped recognizing her relatives, but on the street she turned to strangers, gave them her things. She was repeatedly treated in hospitals and was almost constantly monitored by nurses. But one day she managed to escape from her, she went to her sister, cleaned up the apartment there, went to church, wrote a farewell letter and laid hands on herself.

Pavel Filonov

(1883-1941) - expressionist painter.

He is often called the founder of analytical art, the most prominent Russian avant-garde artist. But, what can we hide, in ordinary life he was an extremely strange person, and everyone who knew him speaks of him as a person entirely consisting of weirdness. His asceticism bordered on masochism, he slept on a bare bed without a mattress, and it was iron, ignored heating and ate very rarely and little. He spoke little, was very proud and irritable.

At the same time, he was patriotic to the point of mania. He was noticed abroad early, he was offered exhibitions and work, but did not agree to such offers and claimed that his compatriots should first look at his work. But at home he was not recognized, during his lifetime he was called a formalist who worked against the working class.

His asceticism was not from a good life, he often did not have enough money even to purchase a canvas, and he painted in oils on cardboard. Among the students who periodically took an interest in him and wanted to study with him, he also enjoyed an ambiguous fame. He was called a charlatan, then a hypnotist at the same time. The artist died of hunger in 1941, without being recognized during his lifetime. He had one personal exhibition, and then closed for display, and in the 30s he participated in the exhibition "Artists of the RSFSR".

It is difficult to say which is more in his paintings - a genius or a schizophrenic, and both, intertwining, create something that no one else has succeeded before him. His paintings often receive the title "paintings of schizophrenics of all times and peoples."

Velemir Khlebnikov

(1885-1922) - poet and prose writer, founder of Russian futurism.

Even at school, or to be more precise at the gymnasium, Velemir drove the teachers crazy by formulating sentences in a completely strange way, using unusual expressions, and classmates called him blessed.

When he had already become a writer, he began to show a craving for a change of location, he had little space, he always tried to expand and change it. He was constantly on the road, no one could determine the logic with which he made this or that trip, and when he would return it was also almost impossible to predict. He carried a pillowcase with him, in which he put everything he wrote on the way. Usually those who were aware of his oddities confiscated his manuscripts, but if this was not done, then they all disappeared.

Friends and his entourage left a lot of information about his habits, behavior and oddities. He did not say hello, but saluted, and he always looked untidy and even managed to turn his socks into something unimaginable in a couple of days. He washed for a long time, poured water into the basin, dipped his brushes in the water and watched for hours as the water flowed from his hands. Then, having scooped it up, he could bring it to his face, but without reaching it, he unclenched his hands, and then vigorously began to dry himself.

Modern psychologists call this syndrome emotional dullness, it means that a schizophrenic with this syndrome has no sympathy, he is not capable of it. One day he left his colleague in serious condition in a field without giving him any help. In addition, he preferred rural life to urban amenities and could bring hay into the apartment to make it easier to sleep.

Yuri Kamorny

(1944-1981) - theater and film actor.

He was a sought-after theater and film actor, was insanely popular with women, but he himself was a great drinker. Noisy companies in which he was a welcome guest, frequent gatherings and dates did their job, he began to wash down stress, and with his irregular and busy schedule, this was a constant thing.

During the filming of films, he did not drink, but during the breaks he allowed himself to relax. One of his acquaintances, who spent time with him after filming, said that after the movie "Game without Trump" he began to behave strangely. All the time it seemed to him that they wanted to steal the girl, and he did not allow her to step away from him.

Psychiatrists say that such manic persecution occurs with paranoid schizophrenia, which is also characterized by fits of rage. So, one evening, neighbors, hearing the screams of a girl who called for help, called the police. The guards who entered the apartment saw the actor threatening the girl with a knife. He was clearly not himself and was threatening her. Negotiations with the police did not lead to anything, the girl was wounded, and Kamorny died of bullet wounds before an ambulance arrived.

Doctors did not find any alcohol or any other substances in the actor's blood, after the fact was diagnosed with "schizophrenia", the cause of which was alcohol and stress.

Daniil Kharms

(1906-1942) - poet and writer.

Since childhood, he was an unusual child, amazed by his ear for music, ability to draw and craving for unusual outfits. However, this was only the beginning, he will have time to come up with not only a lot of pretentious and amazing outfits, but also his own alphabet, poetic spells and even a pattern of behavior. There was no time for studying, she was not so interesting for him than his own inner world.

He was expelled from the technical school for his appearance, he looked too extravagant that the educational institution found it unacceptable to have such a student within its walls. The manner of dressing gave him a lot of problems, from time to time he was taken to the police. It is likely that Kharms, by modern standards, was not dressed strangely or defiantly, but at that moment other fashionable rules reigned, which he was not going to follow. A small detail - he painted a green dog on his cheek.

Despite the fact that he wrote for children, he could not stand the children themselves. He did not like women either, but he had a lot of mistresses, he managed to enter into relationships even with those with whom, according to the laws of morality, he had only to greet meekly.

Despite the fact that he worked for children, in his literature they still saw anti-Soviet activity, he himself was sent into exile. There he stops working and writing, begins to get involved in psychology, and subsequently he himself was treated in a psychiatric clinic. There he was officially diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Valentina Karavaeva

(1921-1997) - theater and film actress.

She became a famous and sought-after actress after the release of the film "Mashenka". After him, Valentina was invited to the main role in the film "Moscow Sky". Filming had already begun and one day she was very late, the driver was in a hurry and they could not avoid an accident, the actress survived, her cute face was very hurt. This marked the end of her career.

This was a serious blow to the girl's psyche, she closed herself off, tried not to leave the apartment at all. The neighbors constantly heard her talking, though they could not understand with whom exactly, because the woman lived alone and no one came to her.

A terrible secret was revealed when the communal services, together with the police, were forced to open the actress's apartment - there was a flood, but she did not open it. Those who entered the apartment found a makeshift set, and the actress herself, floating along with the reels of the filmed film, on the floor. It turned out that until her death she filmed herself on amateur film.

Often, genius borders on insanity and bad character. Poets and writers, despite the worldwide recognition and veneration in the family, often turned the lives of their loved ones into hell. What kind of husbands were the great classic writers.