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[FORENSIC PSYCHIATRY] Sudebnaia psikhiatriia [i.e. Forensic Psychiatry]

Brukhanskii, N.P.

Item #1310

Moscow: Izd. M. i S. Sabashnikovy, 1928. [8], 439 pp. 24x16 cm. In original cloth with colored lettering and blind debossed publisher’s logo. Tears of endpapers, stamps of pre-war Georgian library on endpapers, t.p. and three following leaves, colored pencil underlinings occasionally, otherwise very good and clean copy.
First and only edition. One of 3000 copies. Foreword by P. Gannushkin. One of the pioneering works of early Soviet psychiatry that was read and circulated about ten years in the Soviet Union – just until the Great Purge.
The book is written by Nikolai Brukhanskii (1893-1948), one of the founders of Soviet psychiatry as a discipline. From youth, Nikolai Brukhanskii decided to follow in his father’s footsteps – Pavel Brukhanskii was an extraordinary psychiatrist of pre-revolutionary Russia. In their home, a circle of scientists regularly gathered, including psychiatrist Petr Gannushkin (1875-1933) who developed one of the first theories of psychopathies known today as personality disorders. Gannushkin wrote the foreword for this edition because he supported the author’s point of view in key moments of forensic psychiatry.
After graduation from a university, Nikolai Brukhanskii worked in provincial hospitals, then in the Serbsky State Scientific Center for Social and Forensic Psychiatry in Moscow. In 1936, a notable physician V. Osipov criticized Brukhanskii’s idea of exempting psychopathic individuals from criminal liability. In particular, Osipov proclaimed that “The best solution for treating psychopathic personalities is the system of labor camps which has already given brilliant results in the construction of the White Sea Canal. We can only wish that this system will be successfully applied in other cases of our grandiose construction”. Soon after that, Brukhanskii was arrested and sent to a camp. His books were withdrawn from public libraries, as well as any information about his activities. References to his name were prohibited. For many years, psychiatrists had no opportunity to study his works and the scientific contribution he made to both general and forensic psychiatry.
By 1928, Russian science was rapidly developed and even changed terminology. Previous textbooks on forensic psychiatry were published in 1896-1902 and this particular edition was relevant and extremely needed.

No copies found in Worldcat.

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