Prince Liev Nikoláievitch Míchkin ("The Idiot", Fiódor Dostoevsky) and the interictal personality syndrome of temporal lobe epilepsy

Abstract

Russian romancist Fióclor Dostoevsky's composition, besides its extraordinary literary value, has a special importance for neurologists and epileptologists. The writer, who suffered of epilepsy, transmitted in his texts the epileptic's universe and how the pacient is perceived by the society. His novels had great influence on how epilepsy is perceived by western culture. The romance "The Idiot" has as protagonist Prince Liev Nikoláievitch Míchkin, a epileptic with remarkable personality. Considering the propose made by Geschwind-Waxman (1975) of a interictal personality syndrome in temporal lobe epilepsy, this article intends to discuss the behavioral alterations in epileptic patient, from Míchkin, the main character in Fiódor Dostoevsky's "The Idiot".