Historical story

The Incredible Series of Ailments by Writer James Joyce

Irish writer James Joyce

The Irish James Joyce (1882-1941) is one of the greatest writers Europeans who lived between the 19th and 20th centuries.

He is the author, among others, of the famous novel Ulysses and the story People of Dublin , an intellectual and artist of indisputable talent, but certainly not a man of “iron” health.

On a medical record referring to the illustrious patient, we learn that he suffered from diabetes, colitis, gastritis, delirium tremens , alveolar pyorrhea and acute joint rheumatism , pathologies probably caused or at least worsened by a lifestyle that is not too healthy and balanced, marked by excesses at the table and a flood of cigarettes smoked every day.

As if this were not enough, to aggravate Joyce's already precarious health, they were later added a conjunctivitis and a glaucoma for which the man underwent 12 surgeries, including, in 1923, the total removal of the teeth , considered responsible for the eye infection.

In short, there is no denying it:in addition to being an excellent writer, Joyce was, certainly despite him, also a regular visitor to hospitals.