Strange Characters

Among the curious people I've encountered while researching the reading I'm doing, Louis Althusser stands out. Here's why:

In 1946, Althusser met Hélène Rytman, a revolutionary of Lithuanian-Jewish ethnic origin, eight years older than him, who was to remain his companion until he killed her in 1980.

Come again?

He did what?

Of course, the Wikipedia bio blithely continues without any explanation until several paragraphs down.

On November 16, 1980, Althusser strangled his wife to death. This had been preceded by a period of intense mental instability. The exact circumstances are debated, with some claiming it was deliberate, others accidental. Althusser himself claimed not to have a clear memory of the event. Since he was alone with his wife when she died, it is difficult to come to firm conclusions. Althusser was diagnosed as suffering from diminished responsibility, and he was not tried, but instead committed to the Sainte-Anne psychiatric hospital. Althusser remained in hospital until 1983. Upon release, he moved to Northern Paris and lived reclusively, seeing few people and no longer working, except for producing his autobiography. He died of a heart attack on October 22nd 1990 at the age of 72.

Well, that certainly makes me feel a little less comfortable about the time I've spent idly wandering the streets of Paris.

Oh, and what, by the by, is "diminished responsibility?"

In criminal law, diminished responsibility (or diminished capacity) is a potential defense by excuse by which defendants argue that although they broke the law, they should not be held criminally liable for doing so, as their mental functions were "diminished" or impaired.

Ah. Yes. Very straightforward that. Diminished responsibility means...diminished responsibility. Apparently, his responsibility was so diminished that he could bargain hunt in the Les Puces de Paris Saint-Ouen not three years after choking the life out of his wife.

A truly odd character. Check out his whole life story in Wikipedia.