50 cups of coffee a day, unwillingness to wash and other strange habits of 20 geniuses

From afar, the stars shine brightly and beautifully, but you should not approach them. The same can be said about many famous people of both the distant and recent past. If the cute quirks of some could be quite easily tolerated, then the thorough stupidity of others forced others to keep a safe distance.

This brilliant composer has forever inscribed himself in the history of classical music. However, there is a nuance that is often overlooked in official biographies. The fact is that Mozart was very fond of joking about asses, emitting gases, and so on — in short, he was fond of rude "farting" humor. He even wrote a 6-voice piece called "Leck mir den Arsch fein recht schön sauber" ("Lick my ass Good and Clean"). But that's not why we love him.

Stanley Kubrick — the creator of such films as "2001 Space Odyssey", "The Shining" and "Clockwork Orange" — was known as a strict perfectionist and a rather closed person. But there was also a soft side to his nature: he loved animals very much. Once he had 16 cats living in his house at once! But this is not the limit. Later, 7 golden retrievers and 4 donkeys were added to the cat company.

Da Vinci was an artist, engineer, writer, sculptor, inventor, architect, pioneer in the study of human anatomy, a passionate lover of animals and perhaps one of the most famous vegetarians (if not vegans) in the history of mankind. There doesn't seem to be anything this person doesn't do. And yet there is such a thing: it's a dream. Da Vinci did not like to waste time on it, and after careful study and accumulation of knowledge, he began to follow the cycle of polyphase sleep. In other words, Da Vinci's dream consisted of several short intervals during the day. Being a Renaissance man is not so easy.

When you think about surrealism, you probably immediately think of Dali and his mustache covered with lipstick. The life of this artist was as eccentric and surreal as his paintings. But besides the fact that he drove a car filled with cauliflower and walked around Paris with an anteater on a leash, there was something else extremely extravagant.

When Dali married Gala — the muse and love of his life — he bought her a castle and put her on a pedestal. In general, he was allowed to visit his wife in this castle only after a written invitation.

The giant of Russian literature Leo Tolstoy not only wrote historically reliable books, but also became a living history himself. He is one of the few writers recognized worldwide during his lifetime. Despite the fact that Tolstoy came from the upper strata of society, in the end he began to doubt the correctness of the path and decided to change his life. He condemned the morality and views of high society, became a vegetarian, began to wear peasant clothes and shoes (and even began to learn the shoemaking craft). His homemade boots didn't look perfect, but they were made by his own hands.

The outstanding French composer Eric Satie was strange. Not just a little strange, but incomprehensibly strange. To begin with, he ate only white food — eggs, sugar, grated bones, salt, coconuts, rice, and the like. Every morning he got up at exactly 7:18, and had lunch at exactly 12:11. Dinner was to take place no later than 19:16, and bedtime was strictly at 22:37. In addition, Eric Satie had a penchant for accumulating junk (although you can call it collecting). For example, he had more than 100 umbrellas. And finally, this man was so peculiar that he even became a follower of some kind of religious cult... which he founded himself.

Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg is the author of famous compositions from Peer Gynt — "In the Cave of the Mountain King", "Morning", etc. Everyone has heard his music at least once. You have to be born very happy to have such a talent. Or, as in the case of Grieg, you just need to have a happy frog. A frog figurine. The composer always carried this statuette in his coat pocket — wherever he went. And every time he went on stage, he rubbed it for good luck. Apparently, it worked!

"If it were not for coffee, it would be impossible to write, that is, it would be impossible to live," Balzac, the famous French writer, playwright and author of The Human Comedy, once said. And he wasn't lying: his average daily allowance was 50 cups of coffee. It is unclear how to sleep if you are constantly under the influence of caffeine. But Balzac liked it. He woke up every day at one o'clock in the morning to sit down at the table and immediately start writing.

The Sistine Chapel in the Vatican is a creation of heavenly beauty, but its creator Michelangelo was very far from it. And for a simple reason — he did not recognize hygiene. Michelangelo slept in his clothes and boots, without taking them off for several days. He avoided the shower and even considered it dangerous for his health. Maybe he was right in some ways, because he lived 89 years - and it was at those times.

The embodiment of the French glamour of the XX century, Albert Camus was not just an elegant intellectual who introduced the fashion for smoking and called his cat a Cigarette. He was a writer who won the Nobel Prize, a philosopher, a political activist, a journalist, a passionate football fan and... a very, very big animal lover. When he arrived in New York, he didn't calm down until he went to the Central Zoo. And not once, but twenty times.

Franz Schubert is known primarily for his work Ave Maria. Everything about the composer was great, except for one problem — poor eyesight. Therefore, Schubert had to wear glasses, which he dutifully did. Literally. All the time. He even slept in them.

Despite the fact that these two two are not related to each other in any way, the British writer and the German philosopher still had something in common. Namely, they both worked standing up, believing that this was the only way to write something meaningful.

What happens if you take a glass of juice and turn it upside down? Of course, it will spill. The Russian composer Igor Stravinsky used the same technique to make his creative juices flow and circulate. Every morning he performed a headstand for 10-15 minutes. It seemed to help him clear his head properly and prepare for composing music.

Ludwig van Beethoven really wrote the magnificent "Symphony No. 9", which is now the anthem of the European Union, I will be deaf already. But this, of course, is only the tip of the iceberg of his huge contribution to the history of music. And here it must be said that stellar results require astronomical discipline. Every morning, the composer manually counted out 60 coffee beans, and then made his perfect cup of coffee from them. In addition, to restore strength and cheer up after hard work, he periodically poured cold water on his head.

One of the most famous songs of "Nirvana" is called "Smells Like Teen Spirit" ("Smells like teen spirit"). Cobain somehow decided to go ahead and start smelling like a teenager himself. He dyed his hair red with Kool-Aid powder (it's a flavored drink mix). An interesting choice. In order to protect his hair during this period, the musician did not neglect some procedures for caring for them — for example, he washed them from time to time. Not shampoo. With ordinary soap.

The "mother of American Modernism", Georgia O'Keeffe was an artist with special needs. In order to be productive and draw whatever she wanted without being distracted by outsiders, she needed a separate studio and this studio was mobile. Oh, and it was also possible to travel in this studio, because it was the back seat of a Ford Model-A car. Yes, Georgia O'Keeffe was painting in her car.

Canadian pianist Glen Gould, a big name in the world of classical music, was known not only for his virtuoso skills and unique playing style. He was also a very strange character with a hypochondriac character and a lot of eccentric antics. Gould always, in any weather, wore a coat and gloves, as he was afraid of catching germs and getting sick. And when it was time to perform, he always took his chair with him wherever the concert took place. It was always supposed to be his own magic chair.

Eccentric Mexican artist Frida Kahlo has suffered all her life from the consequences of an accident that made her disabled. This woman was special in everything. Here is a small detail: she had a lot of pets and she loved them very much. But most of her pets would be more suited to the jungle or one of her surreal paintings. Frida had not only dogs, but also monkeys, parrots, chickens and sparrows. And she also had a fawn named Granizo and an eagle, whose name was Gertrude Kaka Blanca, which means Gertrude White Shit (which is quite logical).

Andy Warhol, the face of pop art, is easy to distinguish from the crowd. Because he was a real dandy and took great care of his appearance, and most importantly, about his iconic hairstyle. Which was actually a wig. In short, Warhol had a habit of collecting wigs. As a result, he accumulated a collection of 40 copies.

First of all, few people know that Pablo Picasso is a short version of the artist's name. His real name was Pablo Diego Jose Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Maria de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santisima Trinidad Ruiz and Picasso. Honestly. He became famous for always going ahead in everything. He changed art forever, neither critics nor the Gestapo could intimidate and stop him. But even in ordinary life, it was very difficult to shake his resolve and confuse him: wherever he went, he took a revolver with him. And very few dared to stand in the way of this hot-tempered Spaniard.