TY - JOUR T1 - Prince Myshkin (<em>The Idiot</em>): the falling sickness, <em>The Gambler</em>, and ‘The Grand Inquisitor’ JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 618 LP - 618 DO - 10.3399/bjgp19X706985 VL - 69 IS - 689 AU - John Brooks Y1 - 2019/12/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/69/689/618.abstract N2 - Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821–1881).Dostoevsky was one of the greatest writers of the 19th century, who overcame both physical and mental problems in pursuit of his art. His writing is characterised by interwoven psychological, religious, and existential themes. Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky was born in 1821, the son of a Moscow physician and the second of seven children. He was admitted to the Military Engineering Institute of Saint Petersburg in 1838, graduating 5 years later. By this time both his parents had died and he had experienced his first epileptic fit. Arrested and convicted of political offences in 1849, he was sentenced to death. Following a last-minute reprieve this was commuted to 4 years’ hard labour in Siberia. The conditions were harsh and he was kept in shackles for the whole of this time. Unsurprisingly, this experience had a profound effect on his work.1 … ER -