This site is dedicated to Dr. Hervey Cleckley, renown psychiatrist, whose work helped define the psychopathic personality. A video, produced by Mark Albertin, Hervey M Cleckley: A Man for All Seasons has been released to help preserve the legacy of Hervey Cleckley. Visit this site again to find details on how to obtain a copy.
Here are some excerpts from an article written by Perry M. Smith for the Augusta Chronicle.
Over these last few months, the life and legacy of Dr. Hervey Cleckley has been closely examined. Cleckley was an outstanding scholar and athlete at the Academy of Richmond County, Princeton University and the University of Georgia. In 1924, Cleckley earned a coveted Rhodes Scholarship and was off to Oxford, England for two years.
Cleckley’s athletic accomplishments include:
- Football and track star at the Academy of Richmond County.
- In college he set the University of Georgia record in both the 100 yard and 220 yard dashes. He also competed in the javelin and the sprint relays. Cleckley was the starting halfback on the University of Georgia football team.
- At Oxford he earned his “Oxford Blue” in track and was the intercollegiate heavyweight boxing champion of Europe.
- Later, back in Augusta, he became the Southeastern open badminton champion.
After receiving his degree from Oxford in 1926, Cleckley returned home and entered the Medical College of Georgia. After completing the four-year curriculum in three years, he entered into a two-year surgical residency at MCG. Intrigued by the field of psychiatry, he shifted gears and spent the rest of his life deeply involved in trying to help people with mental issues.
Cleckley’s impact on the field of psychiatry was profound.
- For decades, his book, The Mask of Sanity, was the definitive work on the psychopathic personality.
- Along with his colleague, Corbett Thigpen, he validated the multiple personality disorder. Their book, Three Faces of Eve, sold more than 3 million copies and was translated into 14 languages.
- Cleckley influenced the work of many psychiatrists and psychologists both during his lifetime and for many years after his death.