The mystery of Gogol’s death

The circumstances of the illness and death of the great writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol are surrounded with riddles and mysticism. Gogol’s abdominal pain disturbed him throughout his life. He was referring to doctors with complaints of breakdown and pain in different parts of his abdomen. Doctors made assumptions of «catarrh of the intestines», which turned into «typhus», the unfavorable course of gastroenteritis and «indigestion» complicated by «inflammation». The writer himself believed that he had an incurable disease, calling it «the devil sitting in his belly». In his last days, Gogol refused food, water and communication, weakened to the limit both morally and physically. One of the doctors found only «catarrh of the intestines», another one diagnosed inanitione ex gastroenteritis (?). The invited doctors noted the state of extreme exhaustion in the absence of fever and any somatic disease. The consilium offered various medical manipulations — from bloodletting to hypnosis and forced feeding. However, leeches, dousing with cold water, mustard plasters, mercury preparation etc. didn’t help him. He lost consciousness and stopped breathing by morning. An autopsy was not performed, that’s why various hypotheses about his death appeared. Gogol’s death is shrouded in myths that the grave was opened twice; that his skull was removed from the coffin during the second burial; that the body in the coffin was in a half‑bent position, etc. The reason for the popular hypothesis of lethargic sleep was Gogol’s testament, in which he asked to bury him only after the appearance of obvious signs of decay. However, the lethargic sleep of the great writer was impossible, at least because of the technology for making the death mask. Many doctors were inclined to consider Gogol’s complaints as a manifestation of hypochondria. However, the renowned oncologist surgeon P. A. Herzen concluded by describing the symptoms of the disease: the writer died of pancreatic cancer. This explains Gogol’s sharp weight loss («the spine was palpated through the stomach») and a complete rejection of food due to the inability to swallow even a small piece. Severe cachexia is typical for patients with pancreatic cancer. Contemporary medical experts held several analytical meetings and drew conclusion that Gogol’s progressive disease with possible development of pancreatic cancer proceeded from pancreatitis.