Suicides of famous chefs of the past: François Vatel, James Hemings, and Clemens Wilmenrod
Abstract
The article is devoted to the study of life, professional activity and reasons for suicide of such famous chefs as François Vatel (1631–1671), James Hemings (1765–1801) and Clemens Wilmenrod (1906–1967). It has been established that the Frenchman François Vatel committed suicide due to the fear of personal failure. According to Xavier Briffault and Margot Morgiève, his impulsive act can now be explained within the framework of suicidality, when it comes to perfectionism, burnout, insomnia, exhaustion, stress, shame, humiliation and lack of social support, depression, etc. François Vatel is remembered as an outstanding organizer of exceptional banquets linked to the history of France, although hereafter chefs have been reproaching him for losing control of himself and not being able to resist urgency. There is no reliable information about the causes of the tragic end of one of the creators of modern American cuisine, James Hemings, who received a culinary education in France. German television chef Clemens Wilmenrod, whose cookery programme “Bitte, in zehn Minuten zu Tisch” was wildly popular in the 1950s and 1960s, died after being diagnosed with stomach cancer. There was no suicide note. Clemens Wilmenrod was known as “Don Clemente”. He took into account the shortage of post-war products, used canned vegetables, instant sauces, and ketchup. His recipes reflected the desire of the Germans of that time to see the world and exotic countries. He accompanied his recipes with Munchausen-style invented stories and was remembered by the whimsical names of the dishes. Suicides have always been a difficult issue in the field of health care. Today, technology provides great opportunities for mental health intervention, enabling, among other things, real-time proactive actions for suicide prevention. Improving risk assessment, for example through computer-based testing and genetic screening, is at the centre of ongoing research. Perhaps, thanks to modern medicine and technology, these chefs could have avoided suicide.
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Calero Ruiz, C. (2011). Vatel y otros arquitectos de sueños efímeros. Banquetes, sentidos y triunfi en las cortes europeas de la Época Moderna. Revista Latente: Revista de Historia y Estética del Audiovisual. Is. 9. pp. 45–58.
Carlton, G. The Story Of James Hemings, The Enslaved Chef Who Revolutionized American Cuisine / ed. by Jaclyn Anglis. Published August 3, 2021, updated August 24, 2023. Retrieved from: https://allthatsinteresting.com/james-hemings.
Garval, M. D. (2019). Emulating Vatel: Portraitomanie, Celebrity, and Culinary Intermediality, 1880–1914. L’Esprit Créateur. 59 (1), pp. 47–65. https://doi.org/10.1353/esp.2019.0003.
Hallenberger, G. (2001). Clemens Wilmenrod. Zeichen von Esskultur. Montage AV. Zeitschrift für Theorie und Geschichte audiovisueller Kommunikation. Nr. 2: Essen! Trinken! Feiern! Band 10. pp. 123–129. Retrieved from: http://www.montage-av.de/pdf/102_2001/10_2_Gerd_Hallenberger_Clemens_Wilmenrod.pdf.
James Hemings. Retrieved from: https://www.monticello.org/research-education/thomas-jefferson-encyclopedia/james-hemings/
Klein, L. F. (2013). The Image of Absence: Archival Silence, Data Visualization, and James Hemings. American Literature. 85 (4). pp. 661–688. https://doi.org/10.1215/00029831-2367310.
Klein, L. F. (2014). Dinner-Table Bargains: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and the Senses of Taste. Early American Literature. 49 (2). pp. 403–433. https://doi.org/10.1353/eal.2014.0034.
Klein, L. F. (2020). An Archive of Taste: Race and Eating in the Early United States. Minneapolis and London: University of Minnesota Press. 256 p.
Muraro, V. & Alomo, M. (2017). ¿Vatel en el Siglo XXI? El fenómeno actual de los chefs de la alta cocina analizado como un universo de goce. IX Congreso Internacional de Investigación y Práctica Profesional en Psicología XXIV Jornadas de Investigación XIII Encuentro de Investigadores en Psicología del MERCOSUR. Facultad de Psicología – Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires. pp. 599–602. Retrieved from: https://www.aacademica.org/000-067/949.pdf.
Turecki, G. & Brent, D. A. (2016). Suicide and suicidal behaviour. Lancet. 387 (10024), pp. 1227–1239. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)00234-2.
Turecki, G., Brent, D. A., Gunnell, D., O’Connor, R. C., Oquendo, M. A., Pirkis, J., & Stanley, B. H. (2019). Suicide and suicide risk. Nature Reviews Disease Primers. 5 (1). 74. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41572-019-0121-0.
Vollberg, S. (2020). Don’t Smoke, Take Drink in Moderation, Do Walk a Lot and Do Not Gorge Yourself beyond Your Satiation: Health Education by Television in West Germany from the 1960s to the 1980s. VIEW Journal of European Television History and Culture. Vol. 9 (18). pp. 112–125. http://dx.doi.org/10.25969/mediarep/15370.
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