La pathographie deDostoïevski,ou les dangersd’être père de L’IdiotIrina SirotkinaSummaryGesnerus 62 (2005) 33–49The widespread genre of pathography,or medical biographies of famouspeople,may be interpreted as a case of stigmatisation.It has been suggestedby proponents of the idea of stigmatisation that,by labelling geniuses “men-tally ill”,psychiatrists advanced their own interest and gained prestige fortheir own profession.Though this explanation may sound plausible,it appearstoo schematic to match a more sophisticated reality.The use of medical diag-nosis,which doctors applied to celebrities,may appear to stigmatise,but themotives and consequences of writing medical biographies were undoubtedlymore various than the enhancement of narrow medical interests.Besides doc-tors and their supposed victims,the practice of pathography involved otherinterested parties including literary critics,educators and the lay public.Thiswas the case of the nineteenth-century pathographies of Dostoyevsky,when,suggesting that the writer was mentally ill,psychiatrists followed into thecritics’ steps.Keywords:pathography;Dostoyevsky;stigmatisation;mad geniusRésuméDans le cadre des théories du contrôle social des années 1960,la pathographiefut considérée comme un instrument de stigmatisation médicale.Les méde-cins,dit-on,en profitèrent pour participer au débat public et élever ainsi leurstatut social.Cette interprétation doit être précisée.Sans doute la patho-graphie stigmatise-t-elle son sujet.Mais il ne faut pas oublier qu’elle sedéveloppe toujours sur un terrain propice.Le processus de stigmatisationIrina Sirotkina,Obolenski per.2–66,RUS-119021 Moscow (isiro@mail.ru).33