Die Dorpater Zeit von Emil Kraepelin – Hinterließ dieser Aufenthalt Spuren in der russischen und sowjetischen Psychiatrie?

Abstract

In Russia, German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin (1856-1926) is regarded as an influential and famous personality in the history of the field. This study discusses whether it was his period in the Russian Empire in the years 1886 to 1891 when he worked at Dorpat University (today Tartu, Estonia) that raised his popularity in Russia. Our research shows that all of his writings which had been translated into Russian language derive from a period much later than Dorpat. Moreover, none of his students has ever reached a scientific position which would have enabled him to become a proponent of Kraepelin's ideas in Russia. Despite his stay at Dorpat was important for Kraepelin's scientific development, it had no major impact on Russian psychiatry.The later perception of Kraepelin in Russia and in the Soviet Union is quite inconsistent. At some point of time, his works on experimental psychology were appreciated, which was probably connected with the rise of reflexology in Russian and, especially, Soviet psychiatry. On the other hand, it was Kraepelin's merits in the classification of psychiatric diseases that have mainly been acknowledged.

On the origins of the concept of ‘latent schizophrenia’ in Russian psychiatry

“…It is noteworthy that the term ‘schizophrenia’ does indeed go back to the Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler (1857–1939). His works were based on the previous concept of ‘Dementia praecox’ attributed to the German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin (1856–1926), whose works were also well known in the Russian Empire (Engmann and Steinberg, 2017a). The third edition of Bleuler’s textbook of psychiatry in 1920, first issued in 1916, was translated into Russian language in the same year by a publishing house in Berlin (Bleuler, 1920).…”

Psihiatrijas attīstība Krievijas impērijas Vidzemes, Kurzemes un Igaunijas guberņās 19. gadsimta beigās: Emīla Krēpelīna darbība (1886–1891)

“…Secināts -tā kā neviens no Krēpelīna tā laika studentiem neieguva zinātnisko grādu, viņi nevarēja Krēpelīna idejas nodot tālāk uz Krieviju. 123 Mūsuprāt, pieņemt, ka toreiz krievu izcelsmes ārsti zināja tikai krievu valodu, ir nepamatoti.…”