Robert Schumann

Robert Schumann, one of the giants of early romantic music, was born in Sax ony in 1810 and died in an asylum shortly after his 46th birthday. Early in life, he demonstrated extraordinary skills in both music and journalism; h e remained active in both areas until his final illness. His marriage to th e remarkable pianist, Clara Wieck, provided him with both much-needed emoti onal support and a highly effective champion of his music throughout her le ngthy career. Schumann's plans to be a concert pianist were thwarted at lea st partially by an injury to his right hand, the nature of which has been t he subject of much speculation. After considering what few facts are availa ble, the author concludes that this may have represented focal dystonia, Hi s compositional output waxed and waned dramatically over his professional l ife, reflecting to some degree his emotional state. It is considered most l ikely that he suffered from a major affective disorder, bipolar type. This ultimately led to a suicide attempt in February 1854, and to his eventual d eath in July 1856, Despite widespread and reasonable suspicion that he may have died from neurosyphilis, severe malnutrition from self-starvation seem s more likely.