Portrait of My Father: Frida Kahlo's Intimate Relation to Epilepsy - Karger Publishers
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Neurology and Art
Eur Neurol 2021;84:295–299 Received: March 9, 2021
Accepted: April 4, 2021
DOI: 10.1159/000516321 Published online: May 19, 2021
Portrait of My Father: Frida Kahlo’s
Intimate Relation to Epilepsy
Enrique J. Carrazana a, b, c
aHawaii
Pacific Neuroscience, Honolulu, HI, USA; bJohn A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM), University of Hawai’i,
Honolulu, Honolulu, HI, USA; cNeurelis, Inc., San Diego, CA, USA
Keywords trait of My Father (1951), touches upon a lesser known
Art · Epilepsy · Kahlo · Neurology · Seizure fact about Frida Kahlo as a care partner to a person with
epilepsy.
Abstract
The painting Portrait of My Father (1951) by the Mexican Portrait of My Father (1951)
painter, Frida Kahlo, is discussed by the author within the
context of epilepsy and biographical events in the lives of In 1951, confined in a wheelchair, Frida painted a por-
both Frida and her father, the German Mexican photogra- trait of her father, Guillermo Kahlo (1871–1941), 10 years
pher Guillermo Kahlo. The biographical accounts of the pho- after his death [3] (shown in Fig. 1). He is portrayed young-
tographer’s seizures are suggestive of juvenile absence epi- er and in a photographic manner, reflecting his trade. Fri-
lepsy but cannot discount the possibility of posttraumatic da’s composition for the portrait may have been inspired
epilepsy of mesial frontal origin. © 2021 S. Karger AG, Basel by a photographic self-portrait that Guillermo made in
1907 (shown in Fig. 2). The dedication text at the bottom
of the retablo reads: “I painted my father Wilhelm Kahlo,
of Hungarian-German origin, artist-photographer by pro-
Introduction fession, in character generous, intelligent and fine, valiant
because he suffered for sixty years with epilepsy, but never
The art of Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) tells a story of a gave up working and fought against Hitler, with adoration,
woman who excelled despite the sorrows in her life. His daughter Frida Kahlo” (author’s translation).
Many of her paintings speak boldly of her own medical
struggles with poliomyelitis, accidental severe trauma to
the spine and pelvis, numerous orthopedic operations in Guillermo Kahlo
attempts to alleviate her chronic pain, miscarriages,
therapeutic abortion, and amputation, in addition to Guillermo Kahlo (1871–1941) was born in Pforzheim,
her tumultuous relationship with the notable Mexican Germany, and immigrated to Mexico at the age of 19 in
painter Diego Rivera [1, 2]. One of her paintings, Por- search of new opportunities. A tense relationship with his
karger@karger.com © 2021 S. Karger AG, Basel Correspondence to:
www.karger.com/ene Enrique J. Carrazana, ecarrazana @ aol.comColor version available online
Fig. 1. Portrait of My Father by Frida Kahlo, 1951. Figure taken Fig. 2. Self-portrait by Guillermo Kahlo, 1920. Figure taken from
from WikiArt visual art encyclopedia, in accordance with fair use Wikimedia Commons, in Public Domain. Retrieved from https://
principles. Retrieved from https://www.wikiart.org/en/frida-kah- commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Guillermo_Kahlo#/me-
lo/portrait-of-my-father-1951 (March 6, 2021). dia/File:Guillermo_Kahlo_-_Self-portrait_-_Google_Art_Proj-
ect.jpg (March 6, 2021).
stepmother might have been one of the motives behind Mexico City in 1899. His photograph for the Boker An-
his move to Mexico [3–5]. At the time of his arrival, there nouncer brochure had a massive circulation of 40,000
were around 500 German nationals living in Mexico City. copies. Governmental commissions soon followed [5].
He was intent to rapidly assimilate into the Mexican so- He considered himself a documentary photographer,
ciety. He changed his name from Wilhelm to its Spanish specializing in architecture and industrial plants. His
version, “Guillermo,” adapted the prevailing Catholicism photographic work was characterized by the analytical
over his Protestant formation, married a Mexican wom- look at architecture and its precision without picturesque
an, and within 4 years became a Mexican citizen [3–5]. deviations, along with an obsession with the technical in-
Guillermo Kahlo married Matilde Calderón y novations of the time [5].
González, after the death of his first wife in 1898. From
that marriage, Frida was born in 1907 [4]. He is described
as a stoic, proud, chronically depressed, and fastidious The Father-Daughter Relationship Rooted in Medical
man of regular habits and intellectual pursuits from daily Illness
playing classical music at his piano, reading from his large
library, painting, to spending hours carefully labeling and Guillermo favored Frida among all his daughters [3,
arranging his photographic work [3, 5, 6]. 6]. Their close relationship was developed early as Gui
He took photography as a profession late into his llermo took an active role in Frida’s recovery from polio-
twenties. The origin of his photographic career may have myelitis at the age of 6 years. He instilled in Frida a posi-
been motivated by his father-in-law (Frida’s maternal tive outlook so that her disability was not an impediment
grandfather) who was a photographer. Given that 3 of his to a childhood full of games and sports. Frida claimed that
grandchildren also dedicated themselves to the photo- it was her father who gave her a “marvelous childhood”
graphic trade that has a certain logic [4]. His career took [6]. As Frida recovered and grew into adolescence, the
a turn to success when the German-owned Boker Trading role of care partner reversed. She took on the task of keep-
House commissioned Guillermo with a photographic ing him cheerful, luring him out of depression, and work-
documentation of their new headquarters in the center of ing as his assistant to protect him should he have an epi-
296 Eur Neurol 2021;84:295–299 Carrazana
DOI: 10.1159/000516321leptic seizure [7]. She provided first-aid and guarded his model learning behavior [12, 13]. However, a recent ret-
photographic equipment from getting stolen [3, 8]. These rospective study on 350 patients with psychogenic non-
early and intense medical experiences inspired Frida to epileptic seizures did not demonstrate a significant role
embark on a course of study leading to medical school, for family history of epilepsy and model learning [13].
only to be derailed by a tragic tram accident at the age of
18 years [1, 2]. She was impaled with a steel bar which
fractured her pelvis and spine, injuries that they kept her Guillermo Kahlo’s Seizures
confined to bed for several months and left her painful
footprints for life. This second convalescence further ce- The clinical information regarding Guillermo Kahlo’s
mented the father-daughter relationship, as Guillermo seizures is fragmentary and limited. His seizures started
once again took on the role of a primary care partner. It in adolescence, coinciding with the death of his mother
was with his support that she began to paint, opening a in 1890. There was mention of an episode of head trauma
new field to express her emotions and talent [1, 2]. that anteceded the seizures [5]. Biographical accounts of
Frida Kahlo presented herself through her paintings both Guillermo and Frida Kahlo describe him as suffering
and writings as a woman who was constantly in a struggle from both sporadic grand and petit mal seizures, without
against physical and psychological pain, sexism’s disfran- providing much detail on the semiology [5, 8]. Frida de-
chisement of women, and the rise of fascism during her scribed the most severe seizures as explosive – starting
lifetime. In that context, she distorted both her father and suddenly without warning [6, 8]. His death certificate lists
her life story. Frida often mentioned that her father was a the cause of his death as “epilepsia esencial” (idiopathic
German-born Jew of Hungarian descent, eager to iden- epilepsy) [5]. His seizures have been mentioned to pos-
tify herself with marginalized groups in alignment with sibly influence his photographic subject preference for
her anti-fascist political views [4]. However, the family nonmobile objects, which allowed him to work calmly,
origins dating to the sixteenth century only support a although this conjecture might be based on biographers’
German and Protestant origin [4]. Furthermore, her fa- biases about living with epilepsy [14].
ther was apolitical, and letters from Kahlo to his daughter Generalized seizures along with absence seizures with
never took political overtones despite both Frida and Di- onset in adolescence are strongly suggestive of a diagnosis
ego Rivera’s involvement with leftist causes [3]. The ded- of juvenile absence epilepsy [15]. On the other hand, giv-
ication in the lower panel of Portrait of My Father has en the mention of head trauma by his biographers [5],
contributed to perpetuate the chain of misinterpretations consideration should be given to the possibility of post-
regarding the Kahlo family’s origin [4, 9]. Biographical traumatic epilepsy. Posttraumatic epilepsy accounts for
distortions are not uncommon in patients with chronic around 4% of focal epilepsy in the general population and
pain [10, 11]. The experience of chronic pain involves is the leading cause of epilepsy with onset in young adults
both unpleasant sensory and affective experiences which between the ages of 15 and 24 years [16, 17]. Posttrau-
have a debilitating effect on the patient’s sense of self. The matic epilepsy commonly arises from mesial temporal
unbearable experience of daily chronic pain forces major lobe areas, followed by the frontal lobe and rarely from
changes in all aspects of life, de facto stealing the patient’s the parietal and occipital lobes [18]. Seizures character-
life [10, 11]. Biographical distortions could be a coping ized by impaired awareness and motor automatisms can
mechanism for the patients to reclaim some control over arise from mesial frontal lobe areas, as well as the anterior
their existence. cingulate gyrus and the orbitofrontal cortex [18]. These
Frida Kahlo’s numerous emotional and physical life frontal seizures are often undistinguishable from the ab-
traumas led her to bouts of depression, alcohol, and pain sence seizures seen in generalized epilepsy, particularly
medication abuse and numerous romantic affairs [1, 2, 6, when short in duration (ifest frequent nocturnal seizures [19]. In the case of Gui Concluding Remarks
llermo Kahlo’s seizures, the brief descriptions of his sei-
zures suggest that the convulsive seizures (grand mal) With the death of her father in 1941, Frida was emo-
occurred suddenly and without warning and not preced- tionally overwhelmed. In a letter to her doctor, Leo
ed by other symptoms suggestive of an aura or absence Eloesser, she confided: “The death of my father has been
(petit mal); also, there is no mention of nocturnal seizures something horrible for me. I think that’s the reason for
during sleep. Moreover, mild head trauma rarely leads to my deterioration and weight loss. You remember how
posttraumatic epilepsy with an occurrence of about 2% in cute and nice he was?” [3]. Portrait of My Father, painted
such mild cases [16]. in the simple manner of the traditional Mexican religious
Juvenile absence epilepsy is characterized by the ap- ex-votos, was the way Frida reached closure with her loss.
pearance of absence seizures during adolescence, where Her personal experiences with chronic illnesses, in this
the absences are less frequent than in childhood absence case, her father’s epilepsy, served as the impetus for an-
epilepsy [15]. The presence of generalized tonic-clonic other of her powerful works of art.
seizures is quite common, and these can occur at an ear-
lier age than absence seizures. The presence of general-
ized tonic-clonic seizures in juvenile absence epilepsy is Acknowledgement
associated with a worse prognosis, and only a third of
The author extends his gratitude to Dr. Kore Liow for his kind
patients achieve seizure freedom with antiseizure drug review of the manuscript.
regimens [15]. Persons with juvenile absence epilepsy of-
ten have a family history of epilepsy [15]. During one of
her failed pregnancies, Frida penned concerns of passing Statement of Ethics
the genetic traits of epilepsy to her child in a letter to one
Ethics statement is not applicable.
of her physicians [3]. Panayiotopoulus and colleagues
[20] described a series of idiopathic generalized epilepsy
patients who in addition to generalized tonic-clonic sei- Conflict of Interest Statement
zures experience “phantom” absences of 3- to 4-s dura-
tion. These absences did not interfere with the patients’ There are no conflicts of interest.
daily life, despite mild cognitive impairment during these
events. Some of the patients were aware of absences such Funding Sources
as momentary loss of concentration and forgetfulness
which they did not feel were of relevance. Like Guillermo The author did not receive any funding.
Kahlo, the patients had demanding professions, for ex-
ample, civil engineering and computer programming.
Depressive mood disorders and other psychiatric comor-
bidities are also common in persons with juvenile absence
epilepsy [21].
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