May 1: Death of Solomon Shereshevsky, a man with a phenomenal memory
In 1958, Solomon Shereshevsky, one of the most extraordinary people of the 20th century, died in Moscow of acute heart failure. His unique memory, studied by neuropsychologist Alexander Luria, became a scientific legend and inspired filmmakers, psychologists, and writers.
The story of memory discovered by chance
Solomon Shereshevsky was born in 1892 in the Tver province to a religious family. As a child, he wanted to be a violinist, but an ear infection prevented this. At 21, he became a father and enrolled in the medical faculty of the Riga Polytechnic University, but dropped out to support his family. He worked as a typesetter in a printing house, as an insurance agent, wrote satirical poetry, and played the piano in movie theaters.
In 1929, when Shereshevsky was already 37 years old, he was working as a newspaper reporter. It was then that the editor noticed something odd: he never wrote anything down at meetings—he memorized all the assignments, names, addresses, and numbers. The editor introduced him to neuropsychologist Alexander Luria, who spent the next 30 years studying this unique ability.
Synesthesia: When words have taste and color
Shereshevsky was a synesthete—he perceived information through several senses simultaneously. For him, every number and word had taste, sight, and touch qualities. "1 is a sharp number, regardless of its graphic representation," he described. "5 is completeness, in the form of a cone, a tower, fundamental. 8 is innocent, bluish-milky, like lime."
This peculiarity reached the point of absurdity: he chose food by its sound and complained that he couldn't eat mayonnaise because the letter "z" ruined the taste. He wrapped his spoon in cloth so that its sound wouldn't trigger an avalanche of unnecessary images.
To memorize, Shereshevsky used primarily visual images rather than logic. When Luria gave him lists—of 30, 50, even 70 words or numbers—it presented no difficulty. In most cases, he could reproduce the same sequences flawlessly several years later.
Memory with vulnerabilities
But his phenomenal memory had its pitfalls. Shereshevsky struggled when the sound of a word didn't match its meaning. The word "pig" sounded beautiful and elegant to him—not at all like the sound a pig should have. People's faces seemed too changeable and blurry to him, so he had difficulty recognizing them.
The main problem was the inability to forget. Shereshevsky imagined everything he remembered on an imaginary chalkboard and mentally erased it with a rag. These techniques later formed the basis of therapeutic methods that help people overcome traumatic memories.
From pop to taxi
Shereshevsky performed as a stage mnemonist, astonishing audiences with his memory. Director Sergei Eisenstein, who knew him, used the principles of his dual personality—the actor in action and the spectator-observer—to train actors.
His life is described in his own book, "Notes of a Mnemonist," and in Luria's famous work, "A Little Book about a Great Memory." According to his relatives, they tried to persuade him to work for the security services, but he refused.
In the final years of his life, public interest in his performances waned. Shereshevsky became a taxi driver. The full range of his abilities remains unknown—it is only known that he could warm himself with the power of images or numb pain.
His story inspired directors: Christopher Doyle's films "No Words Enough!" and Paolo Rosa's "The Mnemonist" are largely based on the life of this extraordinary man.
