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One of the most important figures in the history of neurohistology, Giuseppe Levi (1872-1965) contributed in numerous ways to neuroscience, particularly in the fields of neuronal plasticity and the understanding of sensory ganglia. His daughter Natalia Ginzburg, née Levi (1916-1991), on the other hand, achieved fame as one of the most celebrated Italian writers of the twentieth century. Lessico Famigliare (Family Lexicon), from 1963, is a semibiographical account of her life in which she describes the life and character of her father in detail, providing depth and complexity to a seminal figures in the development of neuroscience. A thorough reading of the book enables modern neurologists to fully appreciate Levi's life and contributions, by means of humanizing him and giving context to his life and works. The present article provides a summary of Levi's and Natalia's lives and times as well as an analysis of the book and of the intimate, vivid descriptions of the neurohistologist's life.

Uma das figuras mais importantes da história da neuro-histologia, Giuseppe Levi (1872­1965) contribuiu de diversas maneiras para a neurociência, particularmente no campo da plasticidade neuronal e na compreensão dos gânglios sensitivos. Sua filha Natalia Ginzburg, nascida Levi (1916­1991), pelo contrário, adquiriu fama como uma das escritoras italianas mais célebres do século XX. Lessico Famigliare (Léxico familiar), de 1963, é um relato semibiográfico de sua vida, na qual ela descreve a vida e o comportamento de seu pai em detalhes, e confere profundidade e complexidade a uma figura seminal no desenvolvimento da neurociência. Uma leitura aprofundada do livro permite que neurologistas modernos apreciem a vida e as contribuições de Levi de forma mais completa, o humanizando e dando contexto a sua vida e suas obras. O autor resume as vidas e épocas de Levi e Natalia, bem como avalia o livro e as descrições íntimas, vívidas, da vida do neurohistologista.

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The analysis of three characters corresponding to different spaces and times shows the close link between literature and the history of medicine. On one hand, Don Quixote of La Mancha, who reflects the thought of the last years of the Renaissance and that has been assimilated in contemporary Mexico. On the other hand, Doctors Miguel Francisco Jiménez and Rita Levi Montalcini, who lived in the 19th and 20th centuries, respectively. Despite the years that separate these three personalities, many elements in common are observed that do not lose their validity: the value that is given to health, ethics, tenacity and experience to attain successful results. All three characters refer to the medicine of their time, their achievements and the promotion of humanism, always inherent to medicine.

El análisis de tres personajes correspondientes a espacios y tiempos diferentes muestra el estrecho vínculo entre la literatura y la historia de la medicina. Por un lado, don Quijote de la Mancha, quien refleja el pensamiento de los últimos años del Renacimiento y ha sido asimilado en el México contemporáneo. Por otro lado, los doctores Miguel Francisco Jiménez y Rita Levi Montalcini, quienes vivieron en los siglos XIX y XX, respectivamente. A pesar de los años que separan a los tres personaje, se advierten numerosos elementos en común que no pierden vigencia: el valor que se otorga a la salud, la ética, la tenacidad y la experiencia para obtener resultados exitosos, entre otros. Los tres personajes aluden a la medicina de su tiempo, los logros alcanzados y la promoción del humanismo, siempre inherente a la medicina.

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Resumen El análisis de tres personajes correspondientes a espacios y tiempos diferentes muestra el estrecho vínculo entre la literatura y la historia de la medicina. Por un lado, don Quijote de la Mancha, quien refleja el pensamiento de los últimos años del Renacimiento y ha sido asimilado en el México contemporáneo. Por otro lado, los doctores Miguel Francisco Jiménez y Rita Levi Montalcini, quienes vivieron en los siglos XIX y XX, respectivamente. A pesar de los años que separan a los tres personaje, se advierten numerosos elementos en común que no pierden vigencia: el valor que se otorga a la salud, la ética, la tenacidad y la experiencia para obtener resultados exitosos, entre otros. Los tres personajes aluden a la medicina de su tiempo, los logros alcanzados y la promoción del humanismo, siempre inherente a la medicina.

Abstract The analysis of three characters corresponding to different spaces and times shows the close link between literature and the history of medicine. On one hand, Don Quixote of La Mancha, who reflects the thought of the last years of the Renaissance and that has been assimilated in contemporary Mexico. On the other hand, Doctors Miguel Francisco Jiménez and Rita Levi Montalcini who lived in the 19th and 20th centuries, respectively. Despite the years that separate these three personalities, many elements in common are observed that do not lose their validity: the value that is given to health, ethics, tenacity and experience to attain successful results. All three characters refer to the medicine of their time, their achievements and the promotion of humanism, always inherent to medicine.

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Si repensamos a escritores que se ocuparon de la medicina, el presente trabajo pretende destacar a William Shakespeare, como un escritor que prácticamente en toda su obra describe en sus personajes problemas de salud de todo tipo. Se harán ciertas referencias de los aspectos médicos desarrollados en la obra del escritor, advirtiendo que son sólo una parte de su extensa producción. (AU)

If we rethink writers who dealt with medicine, this paper intends to highlight William Shakespeare, as a writer who practically describes all kinds of health problems in his characters. Certain references will be made of the medical aspects developed in the writer's work, warning that they are only part of his extensive production. (AU)

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Surely Thomas Mann is today a forgotten writer, with only a little and selected group of readers between our young colleagues. However, perhaps could be useful for the others some knowledge about his vision of the infectious diseases in the first half of the twentieth century, when he wrote the novels here reviewed. Typhoid fever, meningitis, syphilis, tuberculosis and cholera are present in Mann's thematic from Buddenbrooks till Doktor Faustus, always with a personal focus, more on spirit -the will to live- rather than flesh and bones... or bacteria. One of his lasts and minor works let us throw an ironical glance over transplant, no so named, indeed, by Mann, who speaks of "exchange". In this second part we present tuberculosis, cholera and…transplant.

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This essay analyzes the presence of the modern concept of melancholy in the Intercenales (1424-1439) by the humanist Leon Battista Alberti. The Intercenales is a collection of satirical, allegorical and moralizing writings composed with the purpose of entertaining an audience of close friends. In spite of the fact that the term "melancholia" does not appear in the text, this paper argues that Alberti's character of "the philosopher" is melancholic, since he is "ill in the soul" (suffering from morbus animi), and his illness is evidenced by a series of physical and psychological symptoms associated with melancholy in the classical and medieval medical traditions. These symptoms are stomach pain, pallor, insomnia, a rich memory, a propensity to study at night, and an ability to have premonitory dreams. With this characterization Alberti promotes a connection between melancholy and being a genius, which is distinctive to the Renaissance and the basis for the modern concept of melancholy. The essay concludes that the ultimate purpose of the Intercenales is to cure, from a literary and philosophical point of view, the illness of the melancholic philosopher.

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The works of Argentinian scholar Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) have captivated physicians. An assiduous reader, he was given, with magnificent irony, "books and the night". Borges suffered from chronic and irreversible blindness, which influenced much of his work and has been the subject of different literary and diagnostic analyses from the ophthalmological point of view. However, the characteristics of his visual impairment have escaped the neurological approach, which is why we reviewed his work looking for data suggesting a concomitant brain injury. On his autobiography, he recounts how, during an episode of septicemia, he suffered hallucinations and loss of speech; in addition, in some poems and essays he describes data that suggest "phantom chromatopsia", a lesion of cortical origin. After that accident, Borges survived with a radical change in literary style. Although a precise diagnosis is impossible, his literary work allows recognizing some elements in favor of concomitant brain involvement.

La obra del erudito argentino Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) ha cautivado a los médicos. Asiduo lector con magnífica ironía, le fueron dados "los libros y la noche". Borges padeció una ceguera crónica e irreversible que impulsó gran parte de su obra y ha sido objeto de distintos análisis literarios y diagnósticos desde el punto de vista oftalmológico. Sin embargo, las características de su ceguera han escapado al abordaje neurológico, por lo cual revisamos su obra en busca de datos que sugieran una lesión cerebral concomitante. En su autobiografía relata cómo durante un episodio de septicemia padeció alucinaciones y pérdida del habla; además, en algunos poemas y ensayos describe datos que sugieren "cromatopsia fantasma", lesión de origen cortical. Tras dicho accidente, Borges sobrevivió con un cambio radical en su estilo literario. Aunque un diagnóstico preciso es imposible, su obra literaria nos permite reconocer algunos elementos que sugieren involucramiento cerebral concomitante.

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Emile Zola is one of the greatest writers in universal literature. In his important series of novels called "The Fortune of the Rougon-Macquart", Zola shows a surprising medical knowledge even though he did not have a formal medical education. We highlight not only his outstanding literary talent, but also the scientific relevance of the tremendous contribution to the medical field that can be extracted from his work. In this series, which describe the history of five generations within a large family suffering from neuropsychiatric and general pathologies, Zola emphasizes the hereditary component of several diseases. These observations probably place him as the first novelist who made an explicit emphasis on the power of inheritance in human behavior. He also mentions for the first time several medical aspects that were seldom addressed in the scientific literature of the time, demonstrating the genius of the writer, his outstanding power of observation and the rigorous preparation with which he wrote his work.

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This essay analyzes the presence of the modern concept of melancholy in the Intercenales (1424-1439) by the humanist Leon Battista Alberti. The Intercenales is a collection of satirical, allegorical and moralizing writings composed with the purpose of entertaining an audience of close friends. In spite of the fact that the term "melancholia" does not appear in the text, this paper argues that Alberti's character of "the philosopher" is melancholic, since he is "ill in the soul" (suffering from morbus animi), and his illness is evidenced by a series of physical and psychological symptoms associated with melancholy in the classical and medieval medical traditions. These symptoms are stomach pain, pallor, insomnia, a rich memory, a propensity to study at night, and an ability to have premonitory dreams. With this characterization Alberti promotes a connection between melancholy and being a genius, which is distinctive to the Renaissance and the basis for the modern concept of melancholy. The essay concludes that the ultimate purpose of the Intercenales is to cure, from a literary and philosophical point of view, the illness of the melancholic philosopher.

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Surely, Thomas Mann is today a forgotten writer, with only a little and precious group of readers between our young colleagues. However, perhaps could be useful for the others some knowledge about his vision of the infectious diseases in the first half of the twentieth century, when he wrote the novels here reviewed. Typhoid fever, meningitis, tuberculosis, syphilis and cholera are present in Mann's thematic from Buddenbrooks till Doktor Faustus, always with a personal focus, more on spirit -the will to live - rather than on flesh and bones… or bacteria. One of his later and minor works let us throw an ironical glance over transplant, no so named, indeed, by Mann, who speaks of "exchange". In this first part we present typhoid fever, meningitis and syphilis.

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Resumen Con seguridad Thomas Mann es hoy en día un escritor olvidado, para los infectólogos y para todo el mundo, con apenas un selecto grupo de poquísimos lectores entre nuestros jóvenes colegas. No les hará mal, a éstos y a aquéllos, sin embargo, adquirir algún conocimiento de las ideas sobre las enfermedades infecciosas en la primera mitad del siglo XX, período en que Mann escribió las obras aquí comentadas: por el contrario puede resultarles particularmente útil si este conocimiento les llega a través de la visión muy personal del germano, quien pone el foco más en el espíritu -la voluntad, el alma en suma- que en el componente físico de la enfermedad, en la miseria corporal, ignorando de paso, desdeñosamente, a las bacterias causantes.

Surely Thomas Mann is today a forgotten writer, with only a little and selected group of readers between our young colleagues. However, perhaps could be useful for the others some knowledge about his vision of the infectious diseases in the first half of the twentieth century, when he wrote the novels here reviewed. Typhoid fever, meningitis, syphilis, tuberculosis and cholera are present in Mann's thematic from Buddenbrooks till Doktor Faustus, always with a personal focus, more on spirit -the will to live- rather than flesh and bones... or bacteria. One of his lasts and minor works let us throw an ironical glance over transplant, no so named, indeed, by Mann, who speaks of "exchange". In this second part we present tuberculosis, cholera and…transplant.

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Many myths and legends have had a profound influence on modern medical language and are exten ded to all specialties as part of their culture and the history of medicine. This article briefly reviews the history of some eponyms which are usually used in medical practice. It is the knowledge of a few the mythological origin in its denomination.

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Emile Zola is one of the greatest writers in universal literature. In his important series of novels called "The Fortune of the Rougon-Macquart", Zola shows a surprising medical knowledge even though he did not have a formal medical education. We highlight not only his outstanding literary talent, but also the scientific relevance of the tremendous contribution to the medical field that can be extracted from his work. In this series, which describe the history of five generations within a large family suffering from neuropsychiatric and general pathologies, Zola emphasizes the hereditary component of several diseases. These observations probably place him as the first novelist who made an explicit emphasis on the power of inheritance in human behavior. He also mentions for the first time several medical aspects that were seldom addressed in the scientific literature of the time, demonstrating the genius of the writer, his outstanding power of observation and the rigorous preparation with which he wrote his work.

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Machado de Assis (1839-1908) suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy, probably with origin in the non-dominant hemisphere. The evidence for this is provided by the detailed reports of the characteristics of his seizures by his contemporaries and by his correspondence with other writers. He was treated with bromides and homeopathy. It is unclear whether his neurological disorder influenced his artistic performance. What is evident is that he was deeply ashamed of the disease - he avoided the word "epilepsy" and just wrote about it in his personal correspondence with friends in the last years of his life. Though controversial, he had no clear traces of personality disorders linked to his temporal lobe epilepsy. Despite all his adversities, including being "mulatto," having a stutter, being of humble origins, and epileptic in a period when there was no efficacious therapy and a profound stigma associated with the disease, Machado de Assis became one of the most important Brazilian writers of all times.

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William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is with no doubt one of the most prolific literary artists of all times; in addition to being an eminent playwright, his works reflect arguments that express medical knowledge, allude to concise descriptions that are relevant to medical practice of that time, and even to current medicine. He wrote between 35 and 38 plays, six lyric works and 154 sonnets (approximately) where finding little more than 700 references to medicine of those days is possible. For this reason, different scholars have analyzed the medical concepts within the Shakespearean literature; some agree that these may be the result of studies of his own, while others suggest that Shakespeare repeated the medical knowledge of some "men of wisdom" of his time. It should be mentioned that the author's contemporary London society lived in an overpopulated, nauseating, sexually promiscuous city that was plagued by pests and waste and continually besieged by epidemics whose treatments many times caused greater evil than benefit (for example, lead-based make-up). Some biographers credit syphilis, alcohol, and depression as the source of Shakespeare's creative production. Despite the myriad of authors who have analyzed the insinuations about medicine in Shakespeare's dramatic accounts, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) is perhaps the most important; throughout his career he carried out a substantial analysis of the English playwright's works owing to his passion for literature and for this author.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) es sin duda uno de los artistas literarios más prolíficos de todos los tiempos. Además de ser un dramaturgo eminente, en sus obras podemos encontrar descripciones relativas a la práctica médica de la época e incluso de la medicina actual. Escribió entre 35 y 38 piezas teatrales, seis obras líricas y 154 sonetos (aproximadamente), en los que es posible encontrar poco más de 700 referencias a la medicina de su tiempo. Por tal motivo, diversos estudiosos han analizado los conceptos médicos en la literatura shakesperiana; algunos coinciden en que puede ser el resultado de su estudio, mientras que otros indican que Shakespeare repitió el conocimiento médico de algunos "hombres de saber" de su tiempo. Cabe mencionar que la sociedad londinense contemporánea al autor vivía en una ciudad sobrepoblada, nauseabunda, sexualmente promiscua y atestada de plagas y desechos, que continuamente era asediada por epidemias, cuyos tratamientos muchas veces ocasionaban un mal mayor a su beneficio (por ejemplo, el maquillaje de plomo). Algunos biógrafos dan crédito a la sífilis, el alcohol y la depresión como origen de la producción creativa de Shakespeare. Aun cuando un sinfín de autores se han dado a la tarea de examinar las alusiones sobre medicina en los relatos dramáticos de Shakespeare, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) fue quizás el más importante; a lo largo de su carrera elaboró un análisis sustancial de las obras del dramaturgo inglés debido a su pasión por la literatura y hacia este artista.

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Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra fue hijo de un cirujano itinerante. Escribió una de las obras maestras de la literatura universal, El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha, considerada la primera novela moderna y solo la Biblia la rivaliza por el número de traducciones a diferentes lenguas e idiomas. La lectura del Quijote por un médico le hace dar un viraje a nuestra profesión. En sus páginas se tratan diversos y variados aspectos médicos, que van desde la descripción de diferentes enfermedades, tratamientos y heridas de batalla, al perfil psicológico de sus personajes. La capacidad de Cervantes para la descripción de hechos médicos y enfermedades es notoria, derivada de la osbservación de la actividad de su padre y de la lectura de libros de medicina. Don Quijote representa un mundo idealizado, ficticio y con claro comportamiento psicótico. A pesar de haber sido escrito hace cuatro siglos, El Quijote está lleno de referencias a diferentes especialidades de la medicina cuyo contenido sigue siendo de interés. El objetivo de este trabajo es describir brevemente el entorno médico que vivió Cervantes y su impacto en El Quijote.Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was the son of an itinerant surgeon. He wrote a masterpiece of the world literature, El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha. It is rivalled only by the Bible for the number of languages into which it has been translated. This masterpiece of the world literature is considered to be the first modern novel. For the physician, a reading of the Quijote is likely to veer in a medical direction. Various medical matters arise in the course of the novel, ranging from medical illness, treatments and battle wounds to the psychological profile of their characters. Cervantes´s excellent nosological ability is evident when he describes symptoms and signs of illness, derived from being a witness to his father´s medical practice and reading medical books. Don Quixote representing an idealized and fictional world with clear psychotic features. Although Cervantes wrote it four centuries ago, Don Quixote contains plenty of references to different specialities of medicine, and many of the ideas and concepts reflected in it are still of interest. The aim of this paper is to describe briefly the medical environment that surrounded Cervantes and its impact on the Quixote.

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