Victor Kandinsky

Victor Khrisanfovich Kandinsky (Russian: Виктор Хрисанфович Кандинский) (April 6, 1849, Byankino, Nerchinsky District, Siberia – July 3, 1889, Saint Petersburg) was a Russian psychiatrist, and was 2nd cousin to famed artist Wassily Kandinsky.[1] He was born in Siberia into a large family of extremely wealthy businessmen.[2] Victor Kandinsky was one of the famous figures in Russian psychiatry and most notable for his contributions to the understanding of hallucinations.[3]

Victor Kandinsky
Portrait of Victor Kandinsky, 1880
Pronunciation
  • [ˈvʲiktər xrʲɪˈsanfəvʲɪt͡ɕ kɐnˈdʲinskʲɪɪ̯]
Born(1849-04-06)April 6, 1849
Byankino, Nerchinsky District, Transbaikal Oblast, Russian Empire
DiedJuly 3, 1889(1889-07-03) (aged 40)
Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
Cause of deathsuicide by opium
CitizenshipRussian Empire
EducationMoscow Imperial University (1872)
Known forresearch on the psychopathology of pseudohallucinations
Spouse(s)Elizaveta Karlovna Freimut–Kandinskaya
Scientific career
FieldsPsychiatry
InstitutionsPsychiatric Hospital of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (1881–1889)
Academic advisorsAleksei Kozhevnikov

Biography

He graduated from Moscow Imperial University Medical School in 1872 and started to work as a general practitioner in one of the hospitals in Moscow.[4]

In 1877 as a military physician in the Balkans during the Russo-Turkish War, he began experiencing mood swings and hallucinations. He was medically discharged on 13 May 1877 and admitted to a naval hospital for treatment.[4] After all, Kandinsky was awarded the light bronze medal in 1878, for participating the Russo-Turkish War.[4]

In 1878 he married his medical nurse Elizaveta Karlovna Freimut (Russian: Елизавета Карловна Фреймут).[4]

Kandinsky's personal physician diagnosed him as having melancholia,[5] but Kandinsky performed self-diagnosis, and he referred to his medical condition as Primäre Verrücktheit (German for "primary paranoid psychosis")[6] which has been anachronistically translated into modern terms as a "schizophrenic-like state".[7] Modern psychiatrists diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia.[8]

In October 1878, Victor again entered a psychiatric hospital. So they sent him to A. Y. Frey Private Psychiatric Hospital in Saint Petersburg.[8] In 1879 he went back to Moscow.[4]

In 1881, he moved to Saint Petersburg.[4] Kandinsky was a mental health worker employed by the Psychiatric Hospital of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker since August 1881.[9]

Kandinsky joined the St. Petersburg Psychiatric Association on 23 January 1882.

In 1885 Kandinsky published a book written in German on pseudohallucinations "Kritische und klinische Betrachtungen im Gebiete der Sinnestäuschungen" in which he describes and details hallucinations largely based on his personal experiences.[7]

In July 1889, feeling that his psychotic symptoms were returning, he took his own life by taking an overdose of opium.[10][2] After he overdosed his last written words were: "1) I had about n grams of opium… 2) I'm reading "The Cossacks" by Tolstoy… 3) It is becoming difficult for me to read…" (Russian: "Проглотил n граммов опиума… Читаю "Казаков" Толстого… Читать становится трудно.).[8] He died as a patient in the institution he had formerly run as the medical superintendent, the St. Nicholas Asylum in Saint Petersburg.[7]

His wife Elizaveta Freimut-Kandinsky arranged the publication of his scientific papers and books ("On Pseudohallucinations" and "On Irresponsibility") and then committed suicide as well.

Scientific contribution

Kandinsky published many journal papers in different languages (Russian, German, French) on various psychiatric, medical and even philosophical subjects.

In the monograph "On Pseudohallucinations" (Russian: О псевдогаллюцинациях) published posthumously in 1890, Kandinsky described a condition which involved being alienated from one's personal mental processes, combined with delusions of being physically and mentally influenced by external forces. The syndrome he described is now known as Kandinsky–Clérambault syndrome, named along with French psychiatrist Gaëtan Gatian de Clérambault. The syndrome also known as syndrome of psychic automatism.

Kandinsky suffered from many types of pseudohallucinations – visual, tactile, auditory, in all senses except taste.[8] Kandinsky's first work on pseudohallucinations was based upon detailed description of his own subjective personal experiences during his psychotic episodes.[5]

Kandinsky's main contributions to psychiatry were in such areas as psychiatric classification, psychopathology and forensic psychiatry. In 1882, he created a system with 16 diagnostic categories of mental disorders. The diagnostic system was used on a daily basis by the Psychiatric Hospital of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker for years. Victor Kandinsky also coined the term Ideophrenia in 1890, and was intended to describe the disorder of perception and thinking.[11] Ideophrenia was replaced by "schizophrenia", which remains in current diagnostic use.

Works
Books in Russian
  • Kandinsky, V. Kh. (1881). Общепонятные психологические этюды: I. Очерк прежних и современных воззрений на психическую жизнь человека и животных. II. Нервно-психический контагий и душевные эпидемии [Comprehensible Psychological "Etudes"] (in Russian). Moscow: Издание книгопродавца А. Ланг (A. Lang Publishing). p. 235.
  • Kandinsky, V. Kh. (1890). К вопросу о невменяемости [On Irresponsibility] (in Russian). Moscow: Издание Е. К. Кандинской (Elizaveta Karlovna Kandinsky's Publishing). p. 239.
  • Kandinsky, V. Kh. (1890). О псевдогаллюцинациях. Критико-клинический этюд ["On Pseudohallucinations" or "About Pseudohallucinations"] (in Russian). Saint Petersburg, Russia: Издание Е. К. Кандинской (Elizaveta Karlovna Kandinsky's Publishing). p. 164.
Reprinted books
  • Kandinsky, V. Kh. (1952). О псевдогаллюцинациях. ["On Pseudohallucinations" or "About Pseudohallucinations"] (in Russian). Медгиз. p. 175.
  • Kandinsky, V. Kh. (2001). О псевдогаллюцинациях. ["On Pseudohallucinations" or "About Pseudohallucinations"]. Раритеты медицинской литературы (in Russian). Saint Petersburg, Russia: Фонд "Содружество". p. 222. ISBN 5-94531-001-8.
  • Kandinsky, V. Kh. (2001). О псевдогаллюцинациях. ["On Pseudohallucinations" or "About Pseudohallucinations"]. Библиотека медицинской классики. Психиатрия. (in Russian). Nizhny Novgorod: Nizhny Novgorod State Medical Academy. p. 155. ISBN 5-86093-055-0.
Philosophy
  • Kandinsky, V. Kh. (1881). Современный монизм (популярно-философский этюд). [Modern Monism]. Мир (in Russian). 1: 239–268.
  • Kandinsky, V. Kh. (1882). Современный монизм (популярно-философский этюд). [Modern Monism] (in Russian). Kharkiv: Издание книжного магазина В. А. Сыхра. p. 32.
Psychiatry
  • Kandinsky, V. Kh. (1880). К учению о галлюцинациях. [To the theory of hallucinations.]. Медицинское обозрѣніе (Медицинское обозрение) (in Russian). 13: 815–824.
  • Kandinsky, V. Kh. (1883). Случай сомнительного душевного состояния перед судом присяжных (Дело девицы Юлии Губаревой). [(The case of the young woman Julia Gubareva)]. Архив психиатрии, нейрологии и судебной психопатологии (in Russian). 2 (2): 1–70.
  • Kandinsky, V. Kh. (1885). Клинические и критические изыскания в области чувств.. Медицинское обозрѣніе (Медицинское обозрение) (in Russian). 23 (3): 231–235.
  • Kandinsky, V. Kh. (1876). Нервно-психический контагий и душевные эпидемии.. Природа (in Russian). 2: 138–191.
Medical articles (in medical journals)
  • Kandinsky, V. Kh. (1874). Медицинские съезды на западе в 1873 г. [International Conventions in the West in 1873.]. Медицинское обозрѣніе (Медицинское обозрение) (in Russian). 1: 116–123.
  • Kandinsky, V. Kh. (1874). Русская земская медицина в 1873 году. [Russian State Medicine in 1873.]. Медицинское обозрѣніе (Медицинское обозрение) (in Russian). 1: 102–112.
  • Kandinsky, V. Kh. (1874). Съезд немецких естествоиспытателей и врачей в Бреславле.. Медицинское обозрѣніе (Медицинское обозрение) (in Russian). 2: 247–254.
  • Kandinsky, V. Kh. (1874). Съезд немецких естествоиспытателей и врачей в Бреславле.. Медицинское обозрѣніе (Медицинское обозрение) (in Russian). 2: 309–312.
  • Kandinsky, V. Kh. (1874). "IV съезд русских естествоиспытателей и врачей". Медицинское обозрѣніе (Медицинское обозрение) (in Russian). I: 112–115.
  • Kandinsky, V. Kh. (1875). Заметки относительно санитарного дела в России.. Медицинское обозрѣніе (Медицинское обозрение) (in Russian). 3: 345–352.
  • Kandinsky, V. Kh. (1875). О сжигании умерших. [On the Burning of Bodies.]. Медицинское обозрѣніе (Медицинское обозрение) (in Russian). 3: 422–433.
  • Kandinsky, V. Kh. (1875). Обзор работ по болезням органов дыхания в 1874 году.. Медицинское обозрѣніе (Медицинское обозрение) (in Russian). 3: 97–127.
  • Kandinsky, V. Kh. (1875). Обзор работ по болезням сердца в 1874 г.. Медицинское обозрѣніе (Медицинское обозрение) (in Russian). 3: 199–203.
  • Kandinsky, V. Kh. (1875). Третий съезд земских врачей Самарской губернии в 1874 г.. Медицинское обозрѣніе (Медицинское обозрение) (in Russian). 3: 80–84.
In German and Polish
  • Kandinsky W. H. (1885). "Kritische und klinische Betrachtungen im Gebiete der Sinnestäuschungen. Erste und zweite studie" (in German). Berlin: Friedländer und Sohn: 170. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  • Kandinski W. C. (1956). "O pseudohalucynacjach" ["On Pseudohallucinations" or "About Pseudohallucinations".] (in Polish). Translated by Lidia Uszkiewicz. Warszawa: Państwowy Zakład Wydawnictw Lekarskich (PZWL): 163. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  • Kandinsky W. H. (1881). "Zur Lehre von den Halluzinationen" [To the theory of hallucinations.]. Archiv für Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten (in German). 11 (2): 453–464. doi:10.1007/BF02054811.
  • Kandinsky W. H. (1884). "Kritische und klinische Betrachtungen im Gebiete der Sinnestäuschungen". Centralblatt für Nervenheilkunde, Psychiatrie und gerichtliche Psychopathologie (in German) (21): 481–485.
Translated into Russian
  • Механика душевной деятельности. Речь, произнесённая в собрании естествоиспытателей в Висбадене и в Венском Антропологическом обществе. (in Russian). Translated by V. Kh. Kandinsky. Moscow: Типография М. Н. Лаврова и К° [M. N. Lavrov and K° Publishing]. 1880. p. 31.CS1 maint: others (link)
  • Основания физиологической психологии. (in Russian). vol. 1 & 2. Translated by V. Kh. Kandinsky. Moscow: Типография М. Н. Лаврова и К° [M. N. Lavrov and K° Publishing]. 1880. p. 512.CS1 maint: others (link)
  • Основания физиологической психологии. (in Russian). vol. 2. Translated by V. Kh. Kandinsky. Moscow: Типография М. Н. Лаврова и К° [M. N. Lavrov and K° Publishing]. 1881. pp. 513–1038.CS1 maint: others (link)
  • Ландуа Л. (1881). Руководство к физиологии человека, со включением гистологии и микроскопической анатомии, обработанное с точки зрения практической медицины. (in Russian). Translated by V. Kh. Kandinsky. Moscow: Типография М. Н. Лаврова и К° [M. N. Lavrov and K° Publishing]. p. 224.
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References
  1. Kandinsky family tree, 6th generation. (in Russian)
  2. Lerner, Vladimir; Witztum, Eliezer (2006). "Victor Kandinsky, M.D., 1849–1889". American Journal of Psychiatry. 163 (2): 209. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.163.2.209. PMID 16449472.
  3. Lerner, Vladimir; Margolin, Jacob; Witztum, Eliezer (2012). "Victor Kandinsky (1849–89): a pioneer of modern Russian forensic psychiatry". History of Psychiatry. 23 (2): 216–228. doi:10.1177/0957154X11416550. ISSN 0957-154X. PMID 23057230.
  4. Rokhlin, L. L. (1975). "Основные даты жизни и деятельности В. X. Кандинского" [Important Dates from the Life and Work of V. Kh. Kandinsky]. Жизнь и творчество выдающегося русского психиатра В. Х. Кандинского [The Life and Work of an outstanding Russian psychiatrist V. Kh. Kandinsky] (in Russian). Moscow: Медицина. pp. 258–266.
  5. Vladimir Lerner, Alexander Kaptsan & Eliezer Witztum (2003). "Kandinsky-Clérambault's Syndrome: concept of use for Western psychiatry". The Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences. 40 (1): 40–46. PMID 12817668.
  6. Scharfetter, Christian (1983). "Schizophrenia". In Zangwill, O. L.; Shepherd, Michael (eds.). General psychopathology. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 44. ISBN 0-521-23649-5.
  7. Berrios, German E. (1996). The history of mental symptoms: descriptive psychopathology since the nineteenth century. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 55. ISBN 0-521-43135-2.
  8. Рохлин, Л. Л. (1975). "Глава 5. О психической болезни В. Х. Кандинского [Chapter 5. On the mental illness of V. Kh. Kandinsky]". Жизнь и творчество В. Х. Кандинского [Life and work of V. Kh. Kandinsky] (in Russian). Moscow: Медицина (Medicine).
  9. Снежневский А. В. (1952). "Биографический очерк В. Х. Кандинского". Кандинский В. Х. О псевдогаллюцинациях [Kandinsky V. Kh. On Pseudohallucinations] (in Russian). Moscow: Медгиз [Medgiz]. pp. 147–167.
  10. Giovanni Stanghellini; Thomas Fuchs (2013). One Century of Karl Jaspers' General Psychopathology. OUP Oxford. p. 194. ISBN 978-0-19-150647-5.
  11. Жмуров, В. А. (2012). "Идеофрения Кандинского". Большая энциклопедия по психиатрии [Great Psychiatric Encyclopedia] (in Russian).
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