VladimirMikhailovic Bekhterev (1857-1927): strange circumstances surrounding the death of the great Russian neurologist

Abstract

The famous Russian neurologist Vladimir Mikhailovic Bekhterev (1857-1927) was ordered to examine Josef Stalin in December 1927 during the First All-Russian Neurological Congress in Moscow. Returning to the Congress after his consultation he told some colleagues that he had 'examined a paranoiac with a dry, small hand'. The next day, Bekhterev died and only his brain was examined postmortem, the body being cremated the same day.