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List of people with epilepsy



This is an incomplete list, which may never be able to satisfy certain standards for completeness.
 

This is a list of notable people who have, or had, the medical condition epilepsy. Following from that, there is a short list of people who have received a speculative, posthumous diagnosis of epilepsy. Finally there is a substantial list of people who are often wrongly believed to have had epilepsy.

A possible link between epilepsy and greatness has fascinated biographers and physicians for centuries. In his "Treatise on Epilepsy", the French 17th century physician Jean Taxil refers to Aristotle's "famous epileptics". This list includes Hercules, Ajax, Bellerophon, Socrates, Plato, Empedocles, Maracus of Syracuse, and the Sibyls.[1] However, historian of medicine Owsei Temkin argues that Aristotle had in fact made a list of melancholics and had only associated Hercules with the "Sacred Disease".[2] Taxil goes on to add his own names: Julius Caesar and Roman Emperor Caligula, Drusus (tribune of the Roman people), Petrarch and Muhammad.

More recently, many saints and other religious figures have been suspected of having had temporal lobe epilepsy.[3] J.E. Bryant's book from 1953, "Genius and Epilepsy", has a list of over 20 people that combines the great and the mystical.[4] Recent scholars are more skeptical. Neuropsychiatrist Peter Fenwick is amongst those who question the widespread labeling of religious figures with temporal lobe epilepsy. He believes this may "owe more to the enthusiasm of their authors than to the true scientific understanding"[5] In a recent detailed review of the subject, neurologist John Hughes concluded that the majority of famous people alleged to have epilepsy did not in fact have this condition.[6][7]

Contents

Certain diagnosis

This categorised chronological list contains only those people with a firm and uncontested diagnosis made while still alive.

Acting

Name Life Comments Reference
Bud Abbott 1897–1974 The straight man in the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. He had epilepsy all his life, and tried to control and hide it by drinking. [8]
Ward Bond 1903–1960 A film actor. His epilepsy meant that he was rejected from the draft for World War II. [9]
Danny Glover born 1946 An actor and film director who had epilepsy from age 15 to age 35. [10]
Margaux Hemingway 1955–1996 A film actress and model who had epilepsy from the age of 7. Her death was attributed to suicide by an intentional overdose of phenobarbital, which is an anticonvulsant, but see the footnoted article for an alternative explanation. [11]
Martin Kemp born 1961 Actor and former bassist with the pop band Spandau Ballet. He has had epilepsy since having two brain tumours in the 1990s. [12]
Rik Mayall born 1958 A comedian and actor who was seriously injured and put in a coma for five days after a quad bike accident in 1998. Initially prescribed phenytoin prophylactically, he has since had two seizures, possibly due to not taking his medication. [13]
Hugo Weaving born 1960 An actor who has taken anticonvulsants for epilepsy since his first seizure age 13. [14][15]

Leadership, politics and royalty

Name Life Comments Reference
Michael IV the Paphlagonian 1010–1041 A Byzantine emperor who had frequent tonic clonic epileptic seizures since adolescence. It was perceived to be demonic possession – punishment for his sins. His royal entourage were alert to signs of an impending seizure and tried to hide the emperor when ill. [16]
Ivan V Alekseyevich 1666–1696 Older half brother of Russian Tsar Peter the Great. Ivan V was feebleminded, epileptic, and half-blind. Would have never become Tsar except for the support of his sister Sophia, who wanted to become regent over him. His sister, with streltsy, made Ivan V rule as co-tsar with Peter I (Great) (who had already been tsar for a few weeks). [17][18]
Martha Parke Custis 1756–1773 The daughter of Martha Washington and step daughter of George Washington. She had seizures from early childhood and died during a seizure, aged 17. Unusually for the time, her parents did not hide her epilepsy and encouraged her to lead a normal life. They tried various treatments including mercury, valeriana, factitious cinnabar, bleeding, and spring waters. [19]
Pope Pius IX 1792–1878 Had childhood epilepsy. [20][21][22]
Francis Libermann 1802–1852 A Jew who converted to Christianity and studied for priesthood. Epilepsy prevented his ordination for many years. [3]
Ida McKinley 1847–1907 First Lady of the United States from 1897 to 1901. Her epilepsy started in adulthood and was to become quite disabling and inconvenient. As was normal for the time, great efforts were made to keep this secret. Her husband, William McKinley would cover her face with a napkin when she had symptoms at dinner parties. [23]
Antônio Moreira César 1850–1897 The brutal commander of the third Expedition in the War of Canudos. He had epilepsy since his 30s, which worsened on the way to Canudos. He was shot on the first day of battle and some blame the seizures for his military misjudgements. [24]
Vladimir Lenin 1870–1924 First Premier of the Soviet Union. Lenin's final year was characterised by neurological decline and loss of function. In his last few months, he developed epilepsy. His seizures worsened and he died in status epilepticus, which had lasted 50 minutes. [25]
Harry Laughlin 1880–1943 The director of the American Eugenics Record Office from its inception in 1910 to its closing in 1939. In 1922, he drew up laws for the compulsory sterilization of various "degenerate" groups, which included those with epilepsy. [26][27]
Prince Erik, Duke of Västmanland 1889–1918 The youngest son of Gustaf V of Sweden. [28]
Prince John of the United Kingdom 1905–1919 The youngest son of King George V, John had epilepsy from the age of 4 until his death after a seizure aged 13. The shame of his epilepsy, along with other neurological problems, meant he was kept from the public eye. [29]
Rabbi Lionel Blue born 1930 A rabbi and broadcaster, best known for his contributions to "Thought for the Day" on BBC Radio 4's Today program. His epilepsy was diagnosed when he was aged 57 and is successfully controlled with medication. [30][31]
Dave Longaberger 1934–1999 A businessman and founder of The Longaberger Company, makers of handcrafted maple wood baskets and accessories. He overcame epilepsy and a stutter, eventually graduating from high school aged 21. [32]
Neil Abercrombie born 1937 A United States congressman who campaigns for increased funding for epilepsy research. He was diagnosed with epilepsy in his early thirties. [33][34]
Rudi Dutschke 1940–1979 A prominent spokesperson of the left-wing German student movement of the 1960s. An assassination attempt in 1968, when he was shot twice in the head, left him partially blind and with frequent epileptic attacks. He drowned in the bathtub after suffering a seizure. [35][36]
Tony Coelho born 1942 A former United States congressman who developed epilepsy aged 16, possibly as a result of an earlier head injury. This would lead to rejection by his family and the Jesuits for "possession by the devil". He has campaigned as a congressman for disabled rights and chairs the Epilepsy Foundation's national board of directors. [37]

Music

Name Life Comments Reference
Jimmy Reed 1925–1976 An American blues singer. His diagnosis of epilepsy in 1957 was delayed due to an assumption that these were attacks of delirium tremens. He died after an epileptic seizure aged 51. [38][39]
Neil Young born 1945 Singer-songwriter, formerly of folk rock band Buffalo Springfield. Disliked the effects of his medication; seeking personal stability as an alternative means of control. [40]
Lindsey Buckingham born 1949 The guitarist and singer in the music group Fleetwood Mac was taken to hospital after a seizure while on tour, aged 29. His epilepsy was successfully controlled by anticonvulsant drugs. [41][42]
Chris Knox born 1952 New Zealand indie musician (Toy Love, Tall Dwarfs) has addressed his epilepsy in such songs as "Lapse", and it is also referenced in his album title "Seizure". [43]
Ian Curtis 1956–1980 The vocalist and lyricist of the band Joy Division was diagnosed with epilepsy aged 22. The cover of their album Unknown Pleasures resembles an EEG tracing, but is actually the tracings of the radio emissions of a pulsar. [44][45]
Richard Jobson born 1960 Formerly the lead singer with the punk rock group, The Skids, now a television presenter and film maker. He has absence seizures. [46]
Edith Bowman born 1975 Scottish television presenter and a radio D.J., who had epilepsy as a child. [47]
Peter Jefferies born ca.1961 New Zealand musician (Nocturnal Projections, This Kind of Punishment). [48]
Hikari Oe born 1963 A Japanese composer who has autism, epilepsy and mental retardation and has created two successful classical-music CDs. He is the son of Kenzaburo Oe, the Japanese novelist who won the 1994 Nobel Prize in Literature. [49]
Adam Horovitz born 1966 Member of the music group Beastie Boys. [50][51]
Mike Skinner born 1978 Also known as The Streets, he had epilepsy between the ages of 7 and 20. [52]
Geoff Rickly born 1979 A member of the band Thursday, who discovered he had epilepsy while on tour. [53][54]

Sport

Name Life Comments Reference
Grover Cleveland Alexander 1887–1950 A major league baseball pitcher who tried to hide his epilepsy with alcohol, which was at the time considered to be a more socially acceptable problem. [55]
Tony Lazzeri 1903–1946 A major league baseball player who probably died after seizure that occurred when he was alone at home. [56]
Hal Lanier born 1942 A major league baseball player and manager. He developed epilepsy after a severe beaning. [57]
Tony Greig born 1946 A former cricketer and commentator who is involved with Epilepsy Action Australia. He had his first seizure, aged 14, during a tennis game but has successfully controlled his epilepsy with medication. [58]
Buddy Bell born 1951 A major league baseball player and manager. [57]
Bobby Jones born 1951 A former pro basketball player who developed epilepsy and a heart problem as an adult, but persevered with his game. [59][60]
Terry Marsh born 1958 A boxer who was IBF world light-welterweight champion. His diagnosis of epilepsy in 1987, aged 29, forced him into retirement undefeated. [61][62]
Greg Walker born 1959 A major league baseball player who collapsed on field with a tonic-clonic seizure. He had a further seizure in hospital that night and took anticonvulsant medication for the next two years. Walker had a childhood history of seizures until the age of 4. [63][64]
Florence Griffith Joyner 1959–1998 An athlete with world records in the 100 m and 200 m. She developed seizures in her thirties, possibly due to a cavernous angioma that was discovered on autopsy. She died from asphyxiation after a grand mal seizure while asleep. [65]
Wally Lewis born 1959 One of Australia's greatest rugby league players, national team captain 1984-89. After retirement from the sport he became a television sports presenter, but became disoriented during a live-to-air broadcast in late 2006. Medical tests revealed that he had epilepsy. [66]
Paul Wade born 1962 Former Australian national football player and television sports commentator. Wade had epilepsy all his life but was only diagnosed as an adult. He kept it secret until he had a seizure on live television in 2001. Drugs weren't controlling the seizures so, in 2002, he had surgery to remove a scar in his brain. He is now seizure free. [67][68]
Maggie McEleny born 1965 Four times British Paralympic swimmer, winning 3 gold, 5 silver and 7 bronze. McEleny has paraplegia and epilepsy. In 2000, she was made an MBE and awarded a Golden Jubilee Award by the British Epilepsy Association. [69][70]
Jonty Rhodes born 1969 A cricketer who is involved with Epilepsy South Africa. [71]
Tom Smith born 1971 Former Scottish international and Northampton Saints rugby player. Has had epilepsy since the age of 18. His seizures occur only at night, during sleep. He is a patron of the Scottish epilepsy charity Enlighten. [72][73]
Alan Faneca born 1976 An American Football guard who currently plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 15 and takes the anticonvulsant carbamazepine, which successfully controls his seizures. [74][75]
Samari Rolle born 1976 An American Football cornerback who currently plays for the Baltimore Ravens. [76]
Chanda Gunn born 1980 A goalie in the US 2006 Winter Olympic women's hockey team. Gunn was diagnosed with juvenile absence epilepsy at the age of 9, which was treated with valproic acid. Epilepsy meant that she had to give up her childhood sports of swimming and surfing, but these were soon replaced with hockey. [77]

Art and writing

Name Life Comments Reference
Edward Lear 1812–1888 An artist, illustrator and writer known for his nonsensical poetry and limericks. His epilepsy, which he developed as a child, may have been inherited (his elder sister Jane had frequent seizures and died young). Lear was ashamed of his epilepsy and kept it a secret. He did, however, record each seizure in his diary. [78]
Fyodor Dostoyevsky 1821–1881 A Russian writer whose epilepsy was probably inherited (both his father and his son had seizures). He incorporated his experiences into his novels – creating four different characters with epilepsy. Dostoyevsky's epilepsy was unusual in that he claimed to experience an ecstatic aura prior to a seizure, whereas most people experience unpleasant feelings. [79][80]
George Inness 1825–1894 An American painter who had epilepsy from childhood. [81]
R. D. Blackmore 1825–1900 Author of Lorna Doone. [82]
Charles Altamont Doyle 1832–1893 Artist and father of Arthur Conan Doyle. His alcoholism and a violent outburst led him to be detained in an asylum. Whist there, he developed epilepsy and severe memory problems. [83]
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson 1832–1910 Norwegian writer and a 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. Developed focal epilepsy following a stroke in the final year of his life. [84]
Ion Creanga 1837–1889 A Romanian children's writer and memoirist who had epilepsy for the last six years of his life. [85]
Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis 1839–1908 A Brazilian realist novelist, poet and short-story writer. He had epilepsy all his life, but was ashamed to mention it, using euphemisms when writing to friends. It is believed he had complex partial seizures, with secondary generalisation. [86][87]
Dmitri Sinodi-Popov 1855–1910 A Russian artist, whose epilepsy interrupted his studies at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. [88]
Minakata Kumagusu 1867–1941 A Japanese writer and naturalist. He had tonic-clonic seizures, with an aura that caused déjà vu. Postmortem MRI showed right hippocampal atrophy, consistent with temporal lobe epilepsy. [89][90]
Vachel Lindsay 1879–1931 A poet who took phenobarbital for his epilepsy. [91]
Laurie Lee 1914–1997 A poet, novelist and screenwriter, most famous for his autobiographical trilogy (which includes Cider with Rosie). His epilepsy probably developed after he was knocked down by a bicycle at the age of 10. He kept it secret and it only surfaced when his papers were read by biographers after his death. [92]
Kyffin Williams 1918–2006 A landscape painter. His epilepsy ended his army career and may have prevented him marrying. [93]
Max Clifford born 1943 A publicist known for representing controversial clients. He developed epilepsy at the age of 46. [94]
Karen Armstrong born 1944 An author, feminist and writer on Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. Her temporal lobe epilepsy went undiagnosed for many years. She wrote in her autobiography that when (in her early thirties) she was finally given the diagnosis, it was "an occasion of pure happiness". [95][96]
Thom Jones born 1945 Author of short stories, many of which include characters with epilepsy. [97]
Stephen Knight 1951–1985 An author who was known for his books criticising the Freemasons. He started having seizures in 1977 and in 1980, agreed to take part in a BBC documentary TV program Horizon on epilepsy. The producers arranged for a brain scan, which showed up a tumour. This was removed but returned in 1984 and despite further surgery he died in 1985. [98]
DeBarra Mayo born 1953 Fitness and health author and writer. [99]
Jago Eliot 1966–2006 Aristocrat, surfer and cyber artist. He died in his bath due to an epileptic seizure, which was recorded as a Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP). [100][101]
Kathy Sierra born 1957 A programming instructor and game developer who co-created the Head First series of books on computer programming. She had her first tonic-clonic seizure aged four. These were frequent and severe but greatly diminished by adulthood and were always preceded by an aura. [102]

Miscellaneous

Name Life Comments Reference
Jean Clemens 1880–1909 The youngest daughter of Mark Twain. She had epilepsy from age fifteen, which her father attributed to a childhood head injury. Her epilepsy was not successfully controlled and at one point she was sent to an epilepsy colony in Katonah, New York. She was found dead on Christmas Eve Day in her bath aged 29. The cause of death was reported as drowning due to epilepsy. [103][104]
Derek Bentley 1933–1953 Hanged, aged 19, for a crime his partner committed, Bentley had epilepsy and a mental age of 11. He was pardoned after a 45 year campaign, which included the film Let Him Have It, starring Christopher Eccleston. [105]
Emilie Dionne 1934–1954 The third of the Dionne quintuplets. Emilie's epilepsy was only made public after her death at a convent in Sainte Agathe, Quebec. She died from the complications of a series of epileptic seizures. These were recorded at noon the previous day, 11pm, 3am, and 5am, but no doctor was called until after her death. Her death from epilepsy caused alarm, leading H. Houston Merritt to inform the public that "the mortality rate among epileptics is no greater than among non-sufferers". [106][107]
Virginia Ridley –1997 A woman who had agoraphobia, hypergraphia and epilepsy. Her eccentric husband Alvin was charged with her murder but cleared after the jury accepted that she may have suffocated during a seizure. She had not been seen outside her home for 25 years. [108]
Don Craig Wiley 1944–2001 A protein-structure biochemist. He kept his epilepsy secret, did not treat it, and died under mysterious circumstances, possibly owing to a seizure. [109]
Barry George born 1960 Convicted of murdering the British television presenter Jill Dando. Has epilepsy and mental health problems. [110]
Daniel Tammet born 1979 An autistic savant who is gifted with a facility for mathematics problems, sequence memory, and natural language learning. He had temporal lobe epilepsy as a child. [111][112]

Retrospective diagnosis

The following people were not diagnosed with epilepsy during their lifetime. A retrospective diagnosis is speculative and, as detailed below, can often be wrong.

Name Life Comments Reference
Socrates 470–399 BC Ancient Greek philosopher. It is speculated that his daimonion was a simple partial seizure and that he had temporal lobe epilepsy. [113]
Julius Caesar 100–44 BC Roman military and political leader. He had four documented episodes of what where probably complex partial seizures. He may additionally have had absence seizures in his youth. There is family history of epilepsy amongst his ancestors and descendants. The earliest accounts of these seizures were made by the biographer Suetonius who was born after Caesar's death. [114][115][116]
Elizabeth Monroe 1768–1830 The wife of James Monroe, fifth President of the United States. Some historians believe her illness was epilepsy. She is reported to have been prone to convulsions and was once seriously burnt after falling into a fireplace. [117]
Napoleon I of France 1769–1821 French military leader and emperor. A paper by William Osler in 1903 stated "The slow pulse of Napoleon rests upon tradition; it has been suggested that his epilepsy and attacks of apathy may have been associated features in a chronic form of Stokes-Adams disease", which implies the seizures were not epileptic in origin. However, in 2003, John Hughes concluded that Napoleon had both psychogenic attacks due to stress and epileptic seizures due to chronic uremia from a severe urethral stricture caused by gonorrhea. [118][119]
Harriet Tubman 1820-22 – 1913 An African-American abolitionist. Developed what was probably epilepsy as a result of a head injury. [120]
George Gershwin 1898–1937 American composer. The first symptoms of his glioblastoma multiforme tumor were probably olfactory-uncinate simple partial seizures. He noticed the smell of burnt rubber at the same time as dizziness or, occasionally, brief blackouts. His condition deteriorated and he died six months later, despite surgery to remove the tumor. [121]
Philip K. Dick 1928–1982 A science fiction writer. One biographer suggests temporal lobe epilepsy as a possible cause of his visions, but also regards such speculation as futile and unverifiable. [122][123]

Religious figures

Many religious figures have been suspected of having had temporal lobe epilepsy. Looking for physical explanations of mystical experiences is controversial.[124] Sudden religious conversion, together with visions, has been documented in a small number of individuals with temporal lobe epilepsy,[3] but the association between epilepsy and intense religious feelings is rare.[124] Aspects of the Geschwind syndrome have been identified in some religious figures, in particular – extreme religiosity and hypergraphia (excessive writing). Many neurologists strongly question the presence of a link between any personality profile and epilepsy.[125] The presence of an entry in the following list does not indicate a scholarly consensus in favour of a diagnosis of epilepsy; merely that such a diagnosis has been suggested.

Name Life Comments Reference
The Priestly source of the Pentateuch c700 BC According to one researcher, the writing has a pendantic and aggressive style, shows extreme religiosity, verbosity and redundant style. These are said to be evidence of Geschwind syndrome, though there is no evidence of any seizures since we have no personal information regarding the author. [126]
Ezekiel 622BC – ? Fainting spells, occasions of speechlessness, compulsive writing, extremely religious, pedantic speech. [127][128]
Paul of Tarsus 3-10 – 62-68 Epilepsy is one of many suggestions regarding his "thorn in the flesh". F.F. Bruce says "Many guesses have been made about the identity of this "splinter in the flesh"; and their very variety proves the impossibility of a certain diagnosis. One favourite guess has been epilepsy ... but it is no more than a guess". Researchers are quite dividied on the cause of his Damascus conversion and vision. In addition to a seizure, heat exhaustion, the voice of conscience together with a migraine, and even a bolt of lightning have been suggested. [3][129][130]
Muhammad 570–632 The medical historian, Owsei Temkin considers the association of Muhammad with epilepsy to have arisen from slander by the Byzantine Christian historian Theophanes. Some researchers consider temporal lobe epilepsy to be a possible cause of his inspirational spells. [131][132]
Saint Birgitta 1303–1373 Her skull shows evidence of a meningioma, which is a cause of epilepsy and may explain her visions. However, it is not in the temporal lobe and other researches suggest psychogenic non-epileptic seizures, or a combination. [133][134]
Joan of Arc 1412–1431 Experienced religious messages through voices and visions which she said others could sometimes experience simultaneously. Some researchers consider the visions to be ecstatic epileptic auras, though more recent research may implicate idiopathic partial epilepsy with auditory features. Epileptic seizures with clear auditory and visual hallucinations are very rare. This, together with the extreme length of her visions, lead some to reject epilepsy as a cause. [6][135][136][137]
Saint Catherine of Genoa 1447–1510 No specific details available. [3]
Saint Teresa of Ávila 1515–1582 Visions, chronic headaches, transient loss of consciousness and also a four-day coma. [3][138]
Saint Catherine of Ricci 1522–1590 Visual hallucinations. Loss of consciousness for 28 hours. [3]
Saint Marguerite Marie 1647–1690 No specific details available. [3]
Mme. Guyon 1648–1717 No specific details available. [3]
Emanuel Swedenborg 1688–1772 Swedish scientist, philosopher, seer, and theologian. [139]
Joseph Smith, Jr. 1805–1844 Seized with a strange power, rendered speechless and fell on his back. Visions of darkness and light. [3]
Ellen G. White 1827–1915 Severe head injury followed by three weeks of limited consciousness. Her visions involved loss of consciousness, upward eye deflection, visual hallucinations, affective changes, gestural automatisms, preservation of speech, a post-ictal-like period. Further, she meets several criteria for the Geschwind syndrome: extreme religiosity, hypergraphia (100,000 pages in 4,000 articles), repetitiveness, hypermoralism, and hyposexuality. [140][141]

However most Adventists dispute these claims.[142]

Saint Thérèse de Lisieux 1873–1897 Seized with "strange and violent tremblings all over her body". Visual hallucinations and celestial visions. [3]

Misdiagnosis

Many famous people are incorrectly recorded as having epilepsy. In some cases there is no evidence at all for a diagnosis of epilepsy. In others, the symptoms have been misinterpreted. In some, the seizures were provoked by acute illness or alcohol withdrawal, for example.[143]

No evidence

The following people are often reported to have had epilepsy but there is no evidence that they had any attacks or illnesses that even resembled epilepsy.

Name Life Comments Reference
Cambyses II  ?–521 BC Herodotus, writing eighty years after the kings death, is responsible for repeating what are now regarded as slanderous remarks that Cambyses was mad and had epilepsy. [144][145]
Pythagoras 582–507 BC [6]
Aristotle 384–322 BC [6]
Hannibal 247–183 BC [6]
Hermann von Helmholtz 1821–1894 [6]
Agatha Christie 1890–1976 [6]

Misdiagnosis by association

Many individuals have been mistakenly recorded as having epilepsy due to an association with someone (real or fictional) who did have epilepsy, or something similar.

Name Life Comments Reference
Dante Alighieri 1265–1321 In his fictional La Divina Commedia, he falls into a "dead faint". [6]
Isaac Newton 1643–1727 In 2000, a paper was published comparing Newton's psychosis with that of a patient with psychosis, who additionally happened to have generalised tonic-clonic seizures. It is possible that ambiguities in the introduction to this paper led readers to associate the epilepsy with Newton rather than the patient. [146][6]
Ludwig van Beethoven 1770–1827 His acquaintance Antonie Brentano had a son, Karl Joseph, who had epilepsy. [6]
Alfred Tennyson 1809–1892 Close family had epilepsy and mental illness, which led Tennyson to fear this in himself. [6]
William Morris 1834–1896 His daughter, May, had epilepsy and this caused Morris to question if his temper rages were related to this. [6]
Patrick Dempsey born 1966 Played a boy with epilepsy in the 1986 Disney TV Movie "A Fighting Choice". He won an award from the Epilepsy Foundation for his convincing portrayal. [147]

Provoked seizures

The following people may have had one or more epileptic seizures but since the seizures were provoked, they do not result in a diagnosis of epilepsy:

Name Life Comments Reference
Edgar Allan Poe 1809–1849 Poe abused drugs and alcohol. If he had any seizures, they were most likely due to alcohol withdrawal. One author has suggested Poe may have had complex partial seizures. [6][148]
Leo Tolstoy 1828–1910 "Fits of spleen" and anguish attacks. Had seizures while dying of pneumonia. [6]
Algernon Swinburne 1837–1909 Alcohol withdrawal attacks. [6]
Lewis Carroll 1832–1898 Migraine and a possible seizure that was probably due to the effects of drug withdrawal. [6]
Alfred Nobel 1833–1896 Febrile seizures in infancy. [6]
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 1840–1893 Seizures in the hours before death. Possible family history of epilepsy. [6]
Truman Capote 1924–1984 Alcohol withdrawal seizures. [6]
Richard Burton 1925–1984 Alcohol withdrawal seizures. [6]

Similar conditions

There are many conditions that produce paroxysmal attacks or events. These events (especially in historical, non-medical literature such as biographies) are often called fits, seizures or convulsions. Those terms are not exclusive to epilepsy and such events are sometimes categorised as non-epileptic seizures. When studied in detail, the attacks were more fully described as "fits of spleen", "seized by pain", "convulsed with anguish", etc.

Name Life Comments Reference
Alexander the Great 356–323 BC Collapsed after taking strong medicine for pneumonia. [149]
Charles the Fat c.839–888 Commonly regarded as a sickly king, with epilepsy, who had a "fit" in Frankfurt in 873. One author's recent detailed investigations cast doubt on the accuracy of certain reports, or their common interpretation. Instead, headache, malaria and a stroke are suggested. [150][151]
Alfred the Great 849–899 Acute pain. [6]
Leonardo da Vinci 1452–1519 Nervous shaking and spasms when furious. [6]
Michelangelo 1475–1564 A faint due to working in very hot weather. [6]
Martin Luther 1483–1546 In John Osborne's play Luther, his visions are the result of epileptic seizures. Luther had many documented illnesses, but any recurrent attacks were probably due to Ménière’s disease. [152][153]
Cardinal Richelieu 1585–1642 Bouts of tears. [6]
Louis XIII of France 1601–1643 Episodes of violence, moodiness and fearfulness. [6]
Molière 1622–1673 A coughing fit. [6]
Blaise Pascal 1623–1662 Breath-holding spells as a child. [6]
William III of England 1650–1702 Fainting and coughing fits. [6]
Jonathan Swift 1667–1745 Severe fits of giddiness due to Ménière’s disease. [6]
George Frideric Handel 1685–1759 A stroke. [6]
William Pitt the Elder 1708–1778 Attacks of gout. [6]
Samuel Johnson 1709–1784 Tourette syndrome. [6]
Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1712–1778 Dizzy fits and agitation. [6]
James Madison 1751–1836 Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures. [6]
Walter Scott 1771–1832 Seizures of cramp due to kidney stones and, later, a stroke. [6]
Niccolò Paganini 1784–1840 Repeated collapsing due to weakness. [6]
Lord Byron 1788–1824 Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures. [6]
Percy Bysshe Shelley 1792–1822 Fits of pain and nervous attacks. [6]
Hector Berlioz 1803–1869 "Fits of spleen". [6]
Robert Schumann 1810–1856 Depression and hallucinations. [6]
Charles Dickens 1812–1870 Renal colic. [6]
Søren Kierkegaard 1813–1855 Collapsing due to weakness. [6]
Gustave Flaubert 1821–1880 In 1984, Henri Gastaut proposed a very specific retrospective diagnosis of a particular form of complex partial epilepsy. More recent biographical information led John Hughes, in 2005, to conclude that Flaubert had psychogenic non-epileptic seizures, and migraine. [6][154]
Guy de Maupassant 1850–1893 Mental illness and hallucinations caused by inhaling ether. [6][155]
Vincent van Gogh 1853–1890 Over 150 physicians have produced nearly 30 different diagnoses for van Gogh's illness. Henri Gastaut's posthumous diagnosis was "temporal lobe epilepsy precipitated by the use of absinthe in the presence of an early limbic lesion". This agrees with that of van Gogh's own doctor, Felix Rey, who prescribed potassium bromide. That van Gogh's personality closely matches the Geschwind syndrome is seen as further evidence by some. Not everyone agrees – a recent review by John Hughes concluded that van Gogh did not have epilepsy. He certainly was mentally ill at times and had "fainting fits" after heavy drinking. [156][157]
Graham Greene 1904–1991 Greene was diagnosed with epilepsy as a young man, after several episodes of loss of consciousness. His impending marriage was at risk and he considered suicide. Treatment consisted of good walks and Kepler's Malt Extract. Greene eventually distrusted the diagnosis and it is now considered likely that the episodes were fainting spells. [158]
John Berryman 1914–1972 Diagnosed with petit mal epilepsy, now reckoned to have been nervous exhaustion. Berryman suffered from depression and alcoholism. [159][160]

Notes and references

  1. ^ Jean Taxil (1602). Traicté de l'Epilepsie. Retrieved on 2006-08-15.
  2. ^ Owsei Temkin (1994). The Falling Sickness : A History of Epilepsy from the Greeks to the Beginnings of Modern Neurology (Softshell Books). The Johns Hopkins University Press, 161. ISBN 0-8018-4849-0. 
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Dewhurst K, Beard A (2003). "Sudden religious conversions in temporal lobe epilepsy. 1970." (PDF). Epilepsy & Behaviour 4 (1): 78-87. PMID 12609232.
  4. ^ Ernest, Bryant J. (1953). Genius and Epilepsy. Brief sketches of Great Men Who Had Both. Concord, Massachusetts: Ye Old Depot Press. 
  5. ^ Peter Fenwick (1994-01-07). Untitled. 4th International Science Symposium on Science and Consciousness.. Retrieved on 2006-08-15.
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "List_of_people_with_epilepsy". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.
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