[The "stigma of mental illness". The psychosis of Emilie Kempin-Spyri and its interpretation].
Several science history studies have recently focussed on the fate of the first German-speaking lady jurist qualified for lecturing in jurisprudence. Emilie Kempin-Spyri (1853-1901), a niece of the Swiss author Johanna Heusser Spyri who wrote the classical children's story Heidi. In practically all these studies, Emilie Kempin-Spyri's mental disturbance has been instrumentalised for developing historical, sociological of feministic theses. Basing on recourse to hitherto unpublished material excepted from hospital records, the authors of the present article examine the psychiatric perspectives of the interlinking of life and patient history. Taking as an example the manner in which the life and death of Emilie Kempin-Spyri has been visualised in the literature, the authors point out that mental disease is mainly viewed under the aspect of a possible interpretation or significance of the person and his or her life. In this manner, science history and biographical studies exercise an influence also on today's social representations of mental disease.
Hoffmann-Richter
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Finzen
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D005197:Famous Persons; D005260:Female; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000266:history*; D011639:Public Opinion; D013557:Switzerland