Berlińskie studia Stanisława Przybyszewskiego
Berlin Studies of Stanisław Przybyszewski

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this article is to show the course of medical studies of Stanisław Przybyszewski at the Royal University of Friedrich Wilhelm in Berlin with respect to the possibilities of him acquiring knowledge about mental illnesses that could have been used by this Polish-German writer in his subsequent novels to create protagonists immersed in madness. The author of the article analyses the materials of Berlin University from the time when Przybyszewski was its student (1889–1893). The analysed documents are the list of lecturers, and the lists of subjects included in the programme of studies. Additional material presented in the article include psychiatric books from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Analysing these books allows us to broaden the knowledge about the issues most likely discussed during the lectures, and about what the author of Dzieci Szatana could have possibly learnt about the then-known mental diseases. Analysis of the official forms from the University of Friedrich Wilhelm indicates that the would-be psychiatrist had an opportunity to take part in classes dealing with neurology and mental illnesses. My research shows that Berlin University may have provided Przybyszewski knowledge about melancholy (depression), neurasthenia and hysteria, and about the medical use of such drugs as morphine and opium. This article presents knowledge which will allow us to put under even closer analysis pieces of work of the author of Confiteor from the perspective of psychological aberration of characters.

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