Brilliant Schizophrenics Of The Soviet Union. Part 1 - Great And Terrible

Few people will be surprised by the fact that among genius people there are patients with various forms of schizophrenia. The originality of the thinking of such geniuses sometimes makes it possible to achieve tremendous success in the field of both art and science. The philosopher Vadim Rudnev believes that it was these people who "defined the cultural face of the 20th century."

The Soviet Union, especially in those years that still bore the imprint of the Silver Age of Russian culture, was rich in genius personalities. It is significant that over time, creative personalities "recovered", and their genius diminished.

See also: Brilliant schizophrenics of the Soviet Union. Part 2

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857–1935) - scientist and inventor, philosopher; the founder and theorist of modern astronautics.

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky became "special" as a child. Deafness after scarlet fever did not allow Kostya to continue her studies at school. He became unsociable and wary, fear of the future dominated in his character. He had to use a special tube to amplify the sound of someone else's voice, but his excellent memory successfully compensated for this inconvenience. Gradually he got used to a closed life, although he continued to "be somewhat afraid of people."

The strangeness in behavior, reflecting the originality of his thinking, manifested itself in eccentricities: “On the roof of his wooden shed, the scientist from time to time exhibited shields with the inscriptions:“Residents of the city of Kaluga! We have forgotten how to look at the stars”,“Tomorrow is the day of worshiping the clouds””.

At the age of 35, Tsiolkovsky's chronic personality changes turned into social isolation. Therefore, the behavioral manifestations associated with it were by no means accidental. Moreover, his pedigree "had enough anomalous signs."

The teachers of the school with whom he worked treated the talented inventor “with condescending distrust, if not to say - with suspicion. He did not smoke, did not drink, ignored all kinds of "bachelor parties" with obligatory and unrestrained libations, did not take gifts and tributes … - in a word, he did not do what most provincial teachers usually did."

Tsiolkovsky was characterized by periods of depression and severe doubts, especially during the period when the first theories of the airship and the rocket were created

His strangeness reached the level of psychopathological disorders. Tsiolkovsky believed that “the unknown heavenly forces chose for their, only known to them, exactly him, a deaf eccentric who shuns those around him, about which people usually say:“not of this world”… Once, in order to be convinced of the reasonableness of the Cosmos, he decided to enter with him in contact and wished to see a sign in the form of a cross or a human figure … Another time, "Unknown intelligent forces" themselves went into contact. " The cosmonautics theorist “did not rule out the existence of either ethereal or angelic humanoids … Moreover, Tsiolkovsky admitted that such highly developed and highly intelligent creatures still inhabit the Earth and its surroundings, but are invisible to us.

Throughout his life, Tsiolkovsky entered into visual contact with certain humanoid noospheric images, from which he received important information

The writer Yuri Nagibin recalls his visit to the Museum of the History of Cosmonautics in Kaluga, where “Tsiolkovsky's grandson, a journalist, acted as a guide. He immediately said the main thing: the grandfather was a terrible person. Fanatic and despot. And the schizophrenic - the latter I pulled out of him with great difficulty, having spoken out in the main, he downright gushed with revelations. The eldest and most gifted of the sons of Tsiolkovsky committed suicide (potassium cyanide), because he was painfully ashamed of his father’s empty, as he believed, occupations, considered them to be a self-taught delirium …””.

It can be assumed that it was Tsiolkovsky's delusional idea "about the possibility of people moving to other planets … by any means and at any cost, served as a powerful stimulus for the already truly scientific substantiation of this" resettlement ", and his enormous intellect and the ability to think beyond the established standards led him to great discoveries … That is, it can be argued that without delusional ideas, Tsiolkovsky would not have come to brilliant and super-original achievements in science,”says psychiatrist, doctor of medical sciences Oleg Vilensky.

Tsiolkovsky's ingenious insights are difficult to explain only by the education he received. In his case, we have an almost complete set of symptoms of schizotypal disorder. Chief among them are transient hallucinations and impaired thinking, which lead to a selection of unlikely associations and combinations, which is typical for both schizophrenic patients and inventors

Anna Golubkina

Anna Golubkina (1864–1927) was a sculptor who worked in the spirit of Impressionism and Art Nouveau.

The sculptor Anna Golubkina all her life was distinguished by everyday impracticality, which reached the point that she did not notice what she was eating, what she was wearing. The suit always consisted of a gray skirt, blouse and apron. In ceremonial occasions, only the apron was removed … Artists and friends were surprised at the gloominess of her character.

She preferred to smoke only strong homemade "samosada" tobacco. It can be assumed that some masculine character traits were the reason that she "did not get married and did not have her own family."

Contemporaries note that she had no romantic hobbies in her youth and adulthood. This fact testifies to its almost complete asexuality, characteristic of patients with schizophrenia

Anna did not like to be photographed. There were no photographs in the house during her lifetime. It would be more correct, however, to speak not of "love", but of the fear of a camera flash or the delusional anxiety associated with the process of photography.

In 1895-1896, Golubkina went to Paris for the first time, but her stay in it was short-lived due to the onset of an attack of mental disorder. Probably, it was about the debut of a schizophrenic disease.

But even after returning to her homeland, she did not critically assess her condition. Researcher OM Dobrovolsky described this period in the following way: “she is still agitated, smokes nervously, assures that she is completely healthy and it is not clear why she is being taken care of and kept locked up, although she is not trying to leave. She does not want to see anyone … The next day she was placed in the psychiatric clinic of Professor S. S. Korsakov … Golubkina repeated again that she was quite healthy … noticing that she had enemies who were persecuting her, plotting … The medical history says that she suffers from mental disorder in the form of primary insanity … Anna Golubkina was on the verge of suicide."

The emotional state of Anna Semyonovna was distinguished by great instability. Attacks of inexplicable and intense melancholy, which lasted for months, reached the point that friends and acquaintances stopped visiting her. Behavior was not always adequate. So, "during the revolution of 1905, she rushed to meet the Cossacks, hung on the harness of horses, begged not to shoot people." This behavior forced her to be recognized as mentally abnormal when she was brought to trial for possession and distribution of illegal literature.

In March 1907, in connection with her active participation in the revolutionary movement, Golubkina was placed in prison, where she went on a hunger strike in protest. The head of the Zaraisk prison sent a secret report to the head of the Ryazan provincial gendarme administration, in which he reported: “Her condition was extremely agitated; on the next day of imprisonment, she developed hysterical fits, expressed in shrill hysterical sobs; These seizures were progressive, and on the 26th the seizure began at 2 am and lasted until 8 am. She was completely exhausted."

The sculptor's mental disorder has been repeatedly confirmed in a forensic psychiatric examination. And there was no need to doubt its presence

In the summer of 1915, Golubkina's mental disorder worsened again: she “was sad, everything was painted in a gloomy light, she was tormented by insomnia. I ended up in a private clinic of Savei-Mogilevich on Devichye Pole. " Due to frequent exacerbations of the disease, Anna Golubkina was never able to implement the plans for large sculptural works.

However, one can assume the presence of a positive influence of a mental disorder on her work, which became more original and peculiar

In 1914, the first personal exhibition of sculptures by Anna Golubkina at the Museum of Fine Arts was held, which was a huge success. In the Soviet years, Golubkina was engaged in teaching work, and in the twenties, having received the post of professor, she headed a sculpture workshop at VKHUTEMAS, wrote a book "A few words about the craft of a sculptor." The schizophrenic process, as we can see, was benign and with good remission.

The psychotic episode transferred by Golubkina in 1896 can be considered as a manifestation of schizoaffective disorder, which required urgent hospitalization in a psychiatric hospital.

In subsequent years, her emotional and behavioral inadequacy (attacks of delusional excitement and depression) manifested itself more than once

The passion for art was in the nature of a monoid, and the very noticeable "exceeding the measure of expression and deformation" of sculptural compositions, which critics say, can be attributed to mental pathology (delusional interpretation of the object). It is this originality of the sculptural solution of the image that gives Golubkina's works a unique and easily recognizable appearance - the main feature of any talented work.

Pavel Filonov

Pavel Filonov (1883-1941) - expressionist painter; the leader of the "Russian avant-garde" and the creator of a special direction of "analytical art".

Oddities in behavior were noted throughout his life and in this genius of painting. For example, he tempered and tortured himself: he slept on an iron bed without a mattress, gazed at the sun with his naked eye, lived in an unheated room, severely limited himself to food.

According to the memoirs of the futurist poet Alexei Kruchenykh, "Filonov in general is not talkative, reserved, extremely proud and impatient." The artist's amazing outlook is conveyed in Velimir Khlebnikov's autobiographical story Ka: “I met one artist and asked if he would go to war? He replied: “I am also waging a war, not for space, but for time. I sit in a trench and take a piece of time from the past. My duty is as heavy as that of the troops for space. " He always painted people with one eye …"

The remarkable patriotism of many Soviet geniuses of different professional directions often went sideways for the development and popularization of their work. Filonov occasionally had the opportunity to arrange his personal exhibition of works abroad, but he always rejected such proposals, believing that "his works should be shown first at home." However, the official Soviet criticism called the artist a “formalist”, “a deceived enemy of the working class” and made him the object of fierce persecution for a long time. He was starving, saving on everything and often due to lack of money to buy canvas he painted with oil paints on paper or cardboard.

The following entry was made in Filonov's diary in September 1933. One student, “wishing to work for me, collected information about me at the Academy from professors and students. Professors told him: "Filonov is an abnormal, insane, charlatan." The disciples said: “Don't go to Filonov - he is a hypnotist”.

The following record is also characteristic (1934): “In the morning a woman messenger from the Union brought me a letter. In her presence, I opened the envelope - there were passes for rations, grocery and manufactured goods, and some kind of printed postscript. Without reading the postscript, I returned all this back to the woman and said that I would not take the ration … She, perplexed, said: "How can you refuse, because this is a ration."

The result of such painful adherence to principles was predictable, despite the fact that the artist tried to work under someone else's name in order to somehow feed his family. As a result, Pavel Filonov died of starvation in December 1941, at the very beginning of the Leningrad blockade. Exhausted by years of half-starved life, the body could not endure the last ordeal. The wife outlived her husband by several months.

The work of Pavel Filonov is recognized as unique not only for the Russian, but also for the world avant-garde. It doesn't fit into certain directions and styles

The analytical method he proposed was not an adaptation of old methods in a new way, but an original way of figuratively transforming the world. "The fundamental difference between Filonov and the avant-garde artists around him is the desire to make the invisible in principle visible … He conveys the invisible not through the visible, like realists or cubists, but finds other plastic solutions for this … The artist has developed provisions on the" seeing eye "and the" knowing eye " - writes art critic Evgeny Kovtun. In painting, Filonov relied on intuition and consciously introduced it into his method of analytical art.

The only lifetime personal exhibition of Pavel Filonov (1929–1930) was held in the halls of the Russian Museum. The paintings hung for a whole year, but only their "closed views" were allowed. In 1932-1933 he was allowed to participate in the exhibition "Artists of the RSFSR", but this was the last "mercy" of the powers that be.

It is difficult to imagine how Filonov's talent would have developed if he had not suffered from schizophrenia, “which made his paintings look like those of schizophrenics of all times and peoples. But since Filonov had a phenomenal talent, even in the pictures created by a sick person, a genius is visible.

For a confident diagnosis of schizophrenia, the material about the artist Pavel Filonov lacks data on the transferred psychotic episodes. But information of this nature is often deliberately left out of the field of vision of biographers. The only author who directly writes about schizophrenia, the famous Russian psychiatrist Mikhail Buyanov, may have had the relevant information.

Filonov's personality traits and the unique originality of his work fully meet the criteria for schizotypal disorder. Patients with this disease have a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia

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