page_title: Axel Munthe
section_title: Later life
hierarchical_section_title: Axel Munthe / Later life
caption_attribution_description: English: Axel Munthe (1857–1949). Español: Axel Munthe en 1930.
context_page_description: Axel Martin Fredrik Munthe was a Swedish-born medical doctor and psychiatrist, best known as the author of The Story of San Michele, an autobiographical account of his life and work. He spoke several languages, grew up in Sweden, attended medical school there, and opened his first practice in France. He was married to an English aristocrat and spent most of his adult life in Italy. His philanthropic nature often led him to treat the poor without charge, and he risked his life on several occasions to offer medical help in times of war, disaster, or plague. As an advocate of animal rights, he purchased land to create a bird sanctuary near his home in Italy, argued for bans on painful traps, and himself kept pets as diverse as an owl and a baboon, as well as many types of dog. His writing is light-hearted, being primarily memoirs drawn from his real-life experiences, but it is often tinged with sadness or tragedy, and often uses dramatic licence. He primarily wrote about people and their idiosyncrasies, portraying the foibles of both the rich and the poor, but also about animals.
context_section_description: In 1919–1920, Munthe was an unwilling landlord to the outrageous socialite and muse Luisa Casati, who took possession of Villa San Michele. This period was described by Scottish author Compton Mackenzie in his diaries.
  Munthe developed an eye condition which eventually made him virtually blind and unable to tolerate the bright Italian sunlight. At that point he returned to Sweden for a number of years and wrote The Story of San Michele (published in 1929), which was well received, having been translated into at least 45 languages and said to be one of the best-selling books of the 20th century.
  An operation restored his sight, and he spent several more years at San Michele before returning to Sweden in 1942. He spent the final years of his life as an official guest of the King of Sweden.
  During the Second World War, Munthe's son Malcolm Pennington Mellor Munthe served with the Special Operations Executive, working behind Nazi lines in occupied Scandinavia, and later participating in the Allied invasion at Anzio. Malcolm Munthe was seriously wounded during the war, and later developed reclusive tendencies.
  Munthe died at Stockholm Palace aged 91. His body was cremated and the ashes were scattered into the North Sea. A memorial plaque about him and his family can be found at the Protestant Cemetery in Rome.
caption: Munthe, early 1930s
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