Axel Munthe

Axel Martin Fredrik Munthe (31 October 1857 – 11 February 1949) was a Swedish-born physician 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 (Swedish, English, French, Italian fluently, and German at least passably), grew up in Sweden, attended medical school there, then studied medicine in Paris and opened his first practice in France.

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.

Though his thesis was on the subjects of gynaecology and obstetrics, Munthe was deeply impressed by Professor Jean-Martin Charcot's pioneering work in neurology, having attended his lectures at the Salpêtrière hospital.

The second child was Arnold a future Artist, Author, playwright and Retired Swedish Naval Captain (# - 1927) who served with the French Imperial Fleet produced and wrote several renown plays Magnus Stenbok, Magdalena Rudenskiold [3] and The March over the Belt.

In 1887, he moved to Capri, bought the Villa San Michele and began restoration, doing much of the work himself, but also employing local residents, including three brothers and their father.

In particular, he served as personal physician of the Crown Princess, Victoria of Baden, continuing to do so when she became Queen consort, and until the time of her death in 1930, although this did not mean that he was in constant attendance.

The Queen shared Munthe's love of animals, owning a pet dog herself, and helped support his efforts to purchase Mount Barbarossa to establish it as a bird sanctuary.

Young Princess Maria, who by request of King Gustaf V of Sweden twice stayed with her mother-in-law the Queen and Munthe at Capri, found his influence damaging and his powers hypnotic.

Years later she asserted that he wanted her to be his patient at age 23 and made physical advances toward her, and that the horror she then felt toward the Swedish royal family, because of their unlimited support of Munthe, was the main reason she fled them and filed for divorce from Prince Wilhelm.

[6] Other indication of his passionate nature concerns an affair he is believed to have had with the English socialite Lady Ottoline Morrell, beginning when they first met in July or August 1898.

It is set amongst trees on the shore of Lake Siljan in Dalarna, and the architect was Torben Grut, who also designed the Stockholm Stadium used for the 1912 Summer Olympics.

Hilda landscaped the home with an English garden as part of the dramatic rocky surroundings, and furnished it with 17th, 18th and 19th-century art and furniture from Italy, England and France.

[8] 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.

He advocated euthanasia for hopeless medical situations such as rabies, where the patient is condemned to a prospect of intense pain and mental anguish.

Aside from his doctoral thesis, his first publications consisted of accounts of his travels which appeared in the Stockholms Dagblad newspaper, and which described his experiences of relief work during the cholera epidemic in Naples.

Speakers included Dr. Ian McDonald, Levente Erdeos (architect, and former curator of San Michele), the Swedish author Bengt Jangfeldt, Dr. Peter Cottino (from Capri), Mårten Lindståhl, Dr. Katriona Munthe-Lindgren, and Professor Alden Smith from the Department of Classics at Baylor University.