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Axel Munthe

Physician, psychiatrist, and writer. He was educated at the University of Uppsala and at Monpellier in Paris where he received his M.D. He studied the work of the French neurologist Jean Martin Charcot and used hypnosis in his own work with the physical and psychological symptoms of his patients. He later became physician to the Swedish Royal family.

He became known as "the modern St. Francis of Assissi" because he financed sanctuaries for birds.

As a writer Munthe recounted his own experiences as a physician and psychiatrist.


“The wild, cruel beast is not behind the bars of the cage. He is in front of it.”
Axel Munthe
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“A man can stand a lot as long as he can stand himself. He can live without hope, without friends, without books, even without music, as long as he can listen to his own thoughts.”
Axel Munthe
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