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Axel Martin Fredrik Munthe (1857-1949) - used the pen name Puck Munthe | |
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Swedish physician, psychiatrist, and writer whose best-known work is the autobiography THE STORY OF SAN MICHELE (1929, Boken om San Michele). It is an account of Munthe's experience as a doctor in Paris and Rome, and in semi-retirement at the villa of San Michele on the island of Capri (Italy). Both realistic and mystical, the book achieved an immense popularity and has been translated into a number of languages. "En berömd engelsk författare har kallat Boken om San Michele "Boken om Döden". Kanske är det så, ty döden är sällan borta från mina tankar. "Non nasce in me pensier che non vi sia dentro scolpita la morte", skrev Michelangelo till Vasari. Jag har brottas så länge med min dystre kollega, ständigt besegrad har jag sett honom slå till marken den ene efter den andre av dem jag sökt försvara. Jag har haft några av dessa människor i tankarna medan jag satt och skrev denna bok, så som jag såg dem leva, så som jag såg dem lida, så som jag såg dem lägga sig ned att dö." (from Boken om San Michele) Axel Munthe was born in Oskarshamn. His family originally were Flemish in origin and had settled in Sweden during the 16th century. Munthe studied medicine at the University of Uppsala (1874-80) and in France at Montpellier, Paris (1880), becoming the youngest M.D. created at Montpellier. The French neurologist Jean Martin Charcot (1825-93) and his study Maladies du système nerveux influenced Munthe deeply. He attended Charcot's lectures at Salpêtrière Hospital and used hypnosis on his patients in treatments for physical and psychological disorders. However, Munthe rejected Charcot's view that a hypnotized state was very similar to a bout of hysteria. At the age of eighteen Munthe visited Capri and decided that some day he would build a house on the island. Its loggias would be full of light, and there would be a small chapel, a vineyard, and old statues in the garden. After practising in Paris and Italy, Munthe became in 1903 physician to the Swedish Royal family. From 1908 he was the personal physician of the Swedish queen Victoria (1862-1930) - she lived on Capri for health reasons for long periods of time. Munthe made his debut as a writer in 1897 with Memories and Vagaries, an account of his work in Paris and Italy, where he lived for a time in Keats's house in Rome. It was followed by Letters from a Mourning City, describing his experiences during the 1884 cholera epidemic in Naples. In 1903 Munthe returned to Sweden, and spent many years as the Physician-in-Ordinary to the Queen. After saving enough money, Munthe built his own villa on the highest point of the island of Capri, on the site of the villa of the emperor Tiberius. He named his house San Michele. In The Story of San Michele, which was written in English, Munthe depicted his life, his love for nature, and the colorful people he had met, among them Guy de Maupassant and Louis Pasteur. At that time Maupassant was writing Le Horla, visions of death haunted him, and he was interested in poisons. Munthe later met the author at the private asylum of Dr. Esprit Blanche at Passy. He was sowing pebbles on the flower- beds and explained that the pebbles would grow into small Maupassants if it rains. - The book ends with a moving story in which the author imagines himself knocking on heaven's door and saints disputing angrily over his salvation. Finally two small birds, who know his good acts, call St. Francis and the narrator finds his peace. "Mitt huvud sjönk ner på den helige Franciscus skuldra. With his royalties from his books, Munthe financed sanctuaries for migrating birds in Capri and in Sweden, and contributed to charities for the poor, becoming known as "the modern St. Francis of Assisi." For a time in the 1930s, he was entirely blind, until his sight was restored in an operation in 1934. During his lifetime Munthe lived on Capri for over 50 years. During World War I Munthe worked at English hospitals, and lived then in Rome, London and Capri. In 1942 he returned to Sweden and spent his remaining years as a guest at the Royal Palace in Stockholm. Munthe died on February 11, 1949. In his last will and testament he donated the villa of San Michele to the state of Sweden. Munthe's villa is situated high up on the rocky ledges northeast of Anacapri, at the foot of Mount Barbarossa. For further reading: The Story of Axel Munthe by G. Munthe and G. Uezkull (1953); The Story of Axel Munthe, Capri and San Michele by A. Andrén (with others, 1959); World Authors 1900-1950, vol. 3, ed. by Martin Seymor-Smith and Andrew C. Kimmens (1996); Artes, publ. by the Swedish Academy, no.1 (2000, ) - Film: Axel Munthe, der Artz von San Michele, dir. by Rudolf Jugert, starring O.W. Fischer (Axel Munthe), 1962. - In Finnish: Munthelta on myös käännetty Lumottu saari: muistoja ja kuvitelmia, suom. Tyyni Haapanen-Tallgren (5. p. 1998). Huvila meren rannalla on pysynyt vakiintuneena myyntivalttina ja vuosien 1930 ja 2000 välissä sitä on myyty jo noin 100 000 kappaletta. - Note: The literary hostess Lady Ottoline Morrell, who had been a close friend of Munthe on the turn of the century, had later a lenghty affair with Bertrand Russell. - See also: Capri Island Web Site Selected bibliography:
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