International Symposium on Dr Axel Munthe The second international symposium on Dr Axel Munthe s life and work will be held on Saturday 13th of September at Hildasholm Leksand Sweden From the Royal College of Physicians in London Professor Ian McDonald adjunct Prof Dept Neurology Yale University also Prof Emeritus of Clinical Neurology University College London will be speaking on the relationship between Dr Axel Munthe and the famous Professor Charcot of the Salpetriere in Paris The eminent architect writers and former curator of Villa San Michele Levente Erdeos will be giving a talk on The makings of Villa San Michele some connections to contemporary art and thinking Other distinguished speakers include the Swedish author Bengt Jangfeldt Dr Peter Cottino from Capri M rten Lindst hl Sweden Dr Katriona Munthe Lindgren from London and Prof Alden Smith Department of Classics Baylor University Texas USA When Munthe received his medical degree in Paris in 1880 at the age of 23 he was the youngest Doctor of Medicine in Europe His thesis was on the subject of gynaecology and obstetrics Munthe had however been deeply impressed by the influential Professor Charcot in the field of neurology and therefore already at an early stage was greatly interested in general diseases In the same year he opened his first practice in Paris which was frequented mostly by members of the large Scandinavian colony of artists He lived intermittently in Italy where he helped the cholera stricken population 1880 on the island of Ischia 1883 in Naples In 1887 Axel Munthe left Paris and settled in Anacapri where he worked as general practitioner In 1890 he opened a practice in Rome where he was consulted by foreign dignitaries resident in Rome as well as by Italian patients He was appointed physician to the royal Swedish household to care for Crown Princess Victoria later queen from 1892 until her death in 1930 During the First World War Axel Munthe served as a physician in the British Red Cross at the front in France He described his activities in the book Red Cross Iron Cross which was published in London in 1916 Axel Munthe became a legendary physician who always gave free medical treatment to the poor For some time he maintained a hospice for elderly destitute people in a castle outside Rome He was an outstanding psychologist who was extremely restrictive in prescribing treatment by drugs The preferred forms of treatment prescribed by Munthe included hypnosis and therapy through music The Story of San Michele entirely overshadows all other publications by Axel Munthe although it includes much of what he had already written earlier His very first publications covered a number of travel discourses which appeared in the Stockholm newspaper Stockholms Dagblad and which described his experiences of relief work during the cholera epidemic in Naples These discourses came out in book form in Sweden in 1885 in England in 1887 and later in 1910 in Italy Subsequently he wrote a number of other papers and short stories which were later collected and published for example Sm Skizzer published in Stockholm in 1888 Vagaries London 1898 Memories and Vagaries London 1908 Bref och Skizzer Stockholm 1909 En gammal bok om manniskor och djur Stockholm 1931 Vagabondaggio Milan 1933 Ein altes Buch von Menschen und Tieren Leipzig 1934 etc Hildasholm the house that Axel Munthe built for his bride in 1910 1911 was designed by the architect Torben Grut who would later create the Stockholm stadium It lies amongst the trees on the edge of Lake Siljan in the heart of Dalarna Surrounded by gardens and pine woods it looks over the peaceful waters and comprises Swedish English and Italian furniture and paintings from the 17th 18th and 19th century Europe It is still used by the family while also being opened as a museum for the public during the summer months The gardens were created by Axel s wife Hilda on the promontories and in the ravines surrounding the house where suddenly the well ordered English garden breaks into the wild and romantic natural environment For a full programme of the symposium please contact Pia Thunholm Stiftelsen Hildasholm Box 64 S 793 22 Leksand Dalarna Sweden Tel 46 0 247 10062 E mail munthes hildasholm org http I hope this is of interest and would be grateful if the information was posted on your web Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any queries