The missing hands of Blaise Cendrars.
The life and works of Blaise Cendrars (1887-1961), one of the greatest French literary authors of the 20th century, were profoundly influenced by neurology. Having been wounded in the Great War in 1915, his right forearm was amputated, and he very quickly began to suffer from stump pain and phantom hand phenomena, which persisted until his death. Following his amputation he became a left-handed writer. Half a century later, between 1956 and his death in 1961, he suffered two strokes which gradually paralyzed the left side of his body. After the second stroke in 1958, he became a 'handless writer', also partially losing his ability to express himself orally. Although the works of Blaise Cendrars portray characters with serious mental disorders, they also contain characters with real neurological diseases, such as the trepanated aphasic in 'J'ai Saigné'. The most famous of these is undoubtedly Moravagine, the protagonist of the eponymous novel, who presents acute behavioral disturbances. We learn from the autopsy report that he was in fact suffering from a brain tumor. On several occasions, including the complex case of Moravagine, and by presenting his ideas on hysteria, Blaise Cendrars, in his own way, addressed the somewhat fuzzy boundary that exists between psychiatry and neurology.
Tatu
Laurent
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Departments of Neuromuscular Diseases and Anatomy, CHU Jean-Minjoz, University of Franche-Comté, Besançon, France.
D000368:Aged; D005197:Famous Persons; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008093:Literature, Modern / Q000266:history*; D008297:Male; D010591:Phantom Limb / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology*; D011037:Poetry as Topic / Q000266:history*