Eva M Cybulska, originally from Gdańsk in Poland – the birthplace of Schopenhauer and Solidarity – has made London her home for over 40 years. Torn between two passions, science and literature, she decided upon medicine and qualified from Gdańsk Medical School with summa cum laude in 1972. She was drawn towards psychiatry of old age, with equal amounts of drama and science.As a teenager, she was engrossed in Sophocles, Dostoevsky, Camus, Kafka, and later Orwell. Shakespeare's Hamlet has been a source of great inspiration. Her fascination with the “mad, bad and dangerous to know” culminated with Nietzsche, who became an all-absorbing interest. She was the first to re-diagnose his mental condition from tertiary syphilis to bipolar affective disorder (published in Hospital Medicine, 2000).For many years, she enjoyed teaching under- and post-graduate students; several of her alumni became distinguished professionals.Cybulska regularly lectures, and has published articles on psychiatry, neurology, philosophy, literature and music. She has also published a collection of stories based on her clinical experiences, Old Trees Die Standing . Some years ago, she took an early retirement and now devotes her time to reading, writing and travelling. She is currently writing a book about Nietzsche and seeks a suitable publisher.She is a member of Friedrich Nietzsche Society's Executive Committee.Occasionally, she uses the pseudonym Eva Corsack.She has two grown-up children.