Room 6: Famous people who suffered from epilepsy

Epilepsy has nothing to do with mental disease or retardation. This has been proved beyond all doubt by the "epileptic geniuses", people who achieved great things in spite of suffering from epilepsy.

The following selection shows people who had epileptic seizures at a certain stage in their life or who suffered from a chronic form of epilepsy for many years.

The fact that hardly any women are to be found among the "famous epileptics" is not because statistically fewer women suffer from epilepsy than men (48 to 52), but can be explained by the social conditions prevalent in past eras. It was infinitely more difficult for women to become prominent figures than it was for men, thus it was deemed more interesting to pass on accounts of the life and deeds of men than to record the less spectacular achievements of women.

For more details, click on the pictures.

Vincent van Gogh Dutch painter	G. Julius Caesar Roman Statesman	Gustave Flaubert French Writer	F.M. Dostoyevsky Russian Writer
Saint Paul Apostle	Heracles Greek Hero	Napoleon Bonaparte French Emperor	Arch Duke Charles Austrian Warlord
Pius IX. Pope	Ludwig II. Duke of Württemberg	Alfred Nobel Swedish Chemist	Lord Byron English Poet
Alexander the Great Macedonian King	Hermann von Helmholtz German Physicist	Joan of Arc French Saint	Molière French Playwright
Karl V. Austrian Emperor	Rudi Dutschke German Student Leader	Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Russian Revolutionist	Socrates Greek Philosopher
	Cardinal Richelieu French Statesman	Margaux Hemingway American Actress