Ansel Bourne (1826–1910) was a famous 19th-century

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

case due to his experience of a probable

dissociative fugue Dissociative fugue (), formerly called a fugue state or psychogenic fugue, is a mental disorder, mental and Abnormal behavior, behavioral Disorder (medicine), disorderDrs; that is nosology, classified variously as a dissociative disorder,Dissoci ...

. The case, among the first ever documented, remains of interest as an example of

multiple personality Dissociative identity disorder (DID), better known as multiple personality disorder or multiple personality syndrome, is a mental disorder characterized by the presence of at least two distinct and relatively enduring personality, personality sta ...

and

amnesia Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or disease,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be caused temporarily by the use ...

. Among the doctors who treated Bourne was

William James William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher, historian, and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States. James is considered to be a leading thinker of the lat ...

. Bourne was an evangelical preacher living in

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. He had become known slightly for his 1857 partial amnesia in which he was seized with the idea of visiting a chapel. Up to that point, he had been a carpenter. He published his experience in 1858. On January 17, 1887, he went to

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

, then continued on until he reached

Norristown, Pennsylvania Norristown is a municipality with home rule status and the county seat of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Montgomery County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the third-most populous county in Pennsylvania and the 7 ...

where he set up shop as a

stationer Stationery refers to commercially manufactured writing materials, including cut paper, envelopes, writing implements, continuous form paper, and other office supplies. Stationery includes materials to be written on by hand (e.g., letter paper) ...

and

confectioner Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories ...

using the name A. J. Brown. On Monday, March 14, he awakened in the morning not knowing where he was and with no memory of the preceding two months, still believing it was January. After he was returned home with the assistance of his nephew, psychologist William James of

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and Richard Hodgson of the

Society for Psychical Research The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) is a nonprofit organisation in the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is to understand events and abilities commonly described as psychic or paranormal. It describes itself as the "first society to condu ...

traveled to study him. Under

hypnosis Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention (the selective attention/selective inattention hypothesis, SASI), reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.In 2015, the American Psychologica ...

, they found, he could be induced to assume the personality of either Bourne or Brown, and neither personality had any knowledge of the other. The story of Ansel Bourne was "most likely" an inspiration for the name 'Bourne' in the movie and novel series '' The Bourne Identity''.

Published works

*
Wonderful works of God
a narrative of the wonderful facts in the case of Ansel Bourne, of Westerly, Rhode Island, who was suddenly struck blind, dumb and deaf and after eighteen days was suddenly and completely restored.'', 1858, M Cummings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bourne, Ansel 1826 births 1910 deaths People with amnesia People with dissociative identity disorder