Christy Brown - artist, writer, poet

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:53

Many talented people who gave mankind immortal books, ingenious paintings or musical works, had physical disabilities and incurable diseases. Van Gogh and Homer suffered from deafness, Einstein and Winston Churchill were losers, and Frida Kahlo was diagnosed with paralysis. The list is endless.

The hero of our today's article, Christy Brown, was also a physically handicapped person, but his talent was perfect. He is known as a poet, artist and writer. Below is a biography of Christy Brown.

Birth and childhood

The future writer and artist was born in Dublin in 1932, in a large family of Catholics Bridget and Patrick Brown. The poor Irish family raised twenty-three children, of whom only seventeen survived to adulthood. Among them was Christy, who lived for 49 years, despite the serious illness that accompanied him throughoutlife.

After the baby was born, the doctor diagnosed him with a severe form of cerebral palsy. He advised the mother of the future artist to take him to a specialized institution for rehabilitation. However, the woman decided to keep her son with her, despite the fact that his father did not recognize him. She looked after the child and talked to him constantly.

When Christy was 5 years old, a miracle happened - he moved his left toe. Since then, the inspired woman began to teach him the letters. Once, with his left toe, the only limb that Christie had control over, he wrote the word "mom" in chalk. This was a real achievement, given the terrible diagnosis of the child. He also learned to speak and was now able to communicate with the outside world.

Becoming a genius

Soon, social worker Catriona Delahunt began visiting the Brown family. She admired the dedication of Christie's mother and began to visit the boy regularly, bringing him books and paints. This communication had a positive effect on the development of the boy: he began to try to draw with his left foot and achieved incredible success in this field. The boy was also interested in literature.

Soon the whole family was proud of Christy Brown's paintings. He developed into a serious artist who masterfully wielded a brush, although he wrote with his left toe.

In fact, Christy did not receive any education, as he attended St. Brendan Sandymound's school in fits and starts. There he met Dr. Robert Killis, who saw in himnovelist and helped him with the publication of the book that Christie wrote later, and with the organization of exhibitions of his paintings.

In the photo - Christy Brown while painting.

My left leg

Kristin Brown wrote a book called "My Left Foot" in an autobiographical style. This is an incredibly strong, poignant work that has become a bestseller. The book has been translated into dozens of languages around the world.

The basis of this work is Christie's life, which was deprived of the usual human joys. He was perceived as a mentally handicapped person, and even his own father considered the birth of his son a misunderstanding. However, he found the strength to live, create and love.

After this book, Jim Sheridan made a film starring talented actors Daniel Day-Lewis (Chris Brown) and Brenda Fricker (Bridget Brown). For their role in this film, both actors were awarded an Oscar. The film also won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Independent Film.

Christy Brown's personal life

After the book "My Left Foot" was published, the young writer began to receive many letters from people from all over the world. With one of the women who sent him a message, Christie began a correspondence. American Beth Moore was married, but for many years she corresponded with the writer and had warm feelings for him. In 1960, Brown went on vacation to North America andstayed with Beth in Connecticut. After 5 years, they met again and even opened their own business.

It was thanks to Moore that in 1967 Brown's next book "Always Down" was published, which he dedicated to Beth. She not only provided him with all the conditions for creativity, but also constantly controlled his daily routine, forbade drinking alcohol, to which the writer was addicted. The couple planned to sign, but fate decreed otherwise.

When Brown returned to Dublin, he saved up enough money to move with his sister's family to a cottage in the suburbs of Dublin. During this period, he also visited London, where he met the Englishwoman Mary Kerr. She was his nurse and is presumed to be a woman of easy virtue. Christy decided to break off relations with Beth and married Mary in Dublin in 1972.

He continued to paint pictures and books, write poems and plays. In 1974, Christy Brown's book Shadow for Summer was published, based on his relationship with Beth. With her, he continued to maintain friendly relations.

Recent years

Marriage with Carr did not bring happiness to the artist. In the last years of his life, he became a hermit, his he alth deteriorated. At 49, he died of asphyxiation after choking on a lamb chop. Traces of beatings were found on his body. Probably Mary beat him. Christie's brother, Sean, also claimed that Carr was not a good wife. She drank a lot and cheated on her husband. However, nothing could be changed…