Article archive / December 2021
Originally published: . Volume 12, No. 12. Source pages: 12.
The Man with a Shattered World by A.R. Luria
John Fanning, PhD Neuropsychologist, New Orleans Past President, LA Psych Assn
On March 2, 1943 twenty-two year-old Lev Zasetsky, a lieutenant in the Soviet army, was leading his unit across a river in the Battle of Smolensk when he was struck in the head by a piece of shrapnel, causing extensive left occipital-parietal damage. After a considerable period of time in a field hospital he was sent to his small rural village on a train. He got lost trying to get back to his mother’s house. He had severe perceptual damage, aphasia, right visual neglect, markedly impaired memory, and severe traumatic headaches. These never abated. But Zasetsky retained his basic personality and motivation, and was aware of his impairments. He determined to keep a diary in hopes of improving his functional ability. He also hoped it might be of value from a medical standpoint. If he kept at it he could get out about a hundred words a day. Oner the next thirty years he compiled a 3,000 page journal. This little book is comprised of excerpts from that journal, with sections written by his doctor, the great Russian neuropsychologist Alexander Luria. It is in no way a technical neuropsychological text, and is highly readable. When people talk about “wartime heroism” they’re usually referring to combat. In Zasetsky’s case wartime combat was just the beginning.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.