Physician, psychiatrist, and writer. He was educated at the University of Uppsala and at Monpellier in Paris where he received his M.D. He studied the work of the French neurologist Jean Martin Charcot and used hypnosis in his own work with the physical and psychological symptoms of his patients. He later became physician to the Swedish Royal family.

He became known as "the modern St. Francis of Assissi" because he financed sanctuaries for birds.

As a writer Munthe recounted his own experiences as a physician and psychiatrist.