Patient Dostoevsky

The medical topic in Dostoevsky’s life and work is diverse, multifaceted and autobiographical. Family, everyday life, observations, analysis of symptoms of diseases formed the personal and creative experience of the future author. Dostoevsky, having an analytical mindset, was deeply interested in medical issues, which manifested itself in his work, where he described the illnesses of his heroes with factual accuracy. The writer’s illness was a factor of criticism and literary creativity. In critical literature, it is mainly discussed in the biographical aspect: the influence of epilepsy affects the writer’s work, the pathography of the author and the heroes of his works is studied, their mental illnesses are analyzed. What was Dostoevsky’s epilepsy like? did she help or hinder his creativity? was it evidence of his genius or degeneracy? - critics who are interested in the psychiatric diseases of genius are trying to answer these questions. In this article, the systematization of well-known and little-known evidence of Dostoevsky’s diseases is carried out, the writer’s attitude to medicine is presented, the features of the diagnosis of his diseases are considered, the artistic embodiment of the diseases of his heroes is analyzed, research prospects are outlined.