Evening star., 1932-10-23
rs. Il ,.;BY EMILY C.. DAVIS.

~ .'bD - EluIL1 'AdV
a kHEN you think of the greatest
men in history-Shakespeare
~ Napoleon, Goethe, Michelan-
NM gelo and other geniuses-do
you imagine them as men who
were normal on the whole but
merely different" because Of some fairy god
mother gift Of super-skill or super-intellgence?
Or do you think of the worlds geniuses, one
and all, as touched by madness?
Or perhaps you steer a middle course. You
think that geniuses are not necessarily mentally
diseased. but that they are abnormal types.
You think Of them as exotic freaks of person.
ality in a world of commonplace, normal hui
man beings.
II the latter has been your theory, then you
are In agreement with the latest pronounce
ment of science. Prof. Ernest Krestchmer,
noted mental specialist Of Warburg. Germany.
has been studying the heridity and inner work.
ings of genius. His views on "The Psychology
of Men of Genius" have Just been translated
into English.
Prof Kretschmer advances some remarkable
psychological facts and theories about men who
have left their mark world history. But the
main point of his theories, the hub from which
all his findings radiate, Is that no genius has
ever been thoroughly sane and normal
They have all been what . biologist calls
"extreme variants" Of the human species The
biologist would not use the term freak but
in everyday language the genius might be
IN every circus side-show are lined up the
! giants. contortionists bearded ladies. and
others who are extreme variants" Of human
biology. If you could look at personalities as
you look at faces and bodies, you would find the
personalities of geniuses to be just as freakish.
To draw such a comparison is not detracting
from the glories of genius. It Is merely en-
phasizing the fact that geniuses have had to
struggle against the handicap Of being different.
They were harassed by oversenSitive nerves
They went about much Of the time in state
Of violent emotion. They lived out their loves
in stress and discomfort because they inherited
more or less abnormal constitutions.
It Is Prof Kretchmer's contention that this
abnormal streak is an essential ingredient OF
genius
Being normal is a pleasant and comfortable
state writes the German psychiatrist, dryly
But great deeds do not spring Of healthy sat-
isfied minds and hearts It takes an inner
turmoil to drive human beings to produce the
greatest pictures of poems or philosophical ideas
or political revolutions.
The German psychiatrist puts it even more
strongly. He says that we are forced to con-
clude that If the abnormal streak Is removed
from the constitution of the man of genius
nothing but an ordinarily talented person would
remain.
n
n of history. he sets down some geniuses as
abnormal to the point Of madness The sly
Robesperre who led the French Reign Of Ter
ror. walked like stiff doll. His shoulders
twitched. His mind was cold fanatical, rea-
soning machine.
Historians recorded these symptoms perhaps
without knowing that they were writing a good
clinical record Prof. Kretschmer calls Robe
sperre schizod type.
He says that Robespierre was q Psychological
puzzle For with all his physical unattractive-
ness and all his cold unfeeling decisions re-
garding the course Of
French affairs this
! ! !: ! !:
same Robespierre was xN
liked by children. And -
women cast admiring I4.$4 ~
eyes at him, though he 1M4
met them only with = 1
aversion or with we'll ~
bred poHteness. r szzA
There was no man 49S
who was really friend ~
nf RnheSDierrp And. E13$3e&