Objective: to evaluate the impact on psychopathology learning of a seminar series focusing on clinical cases described by classic psychiatry authors. Methods: a specially designed questionnaire was administered to 24 residents on the adult and child psychiatry programme at the beginning and end of a series of 12 seminars analyzing the life, work and selected clinical cases of classic psychiatry authors including S. Freud, K. Kraepelin, E. Bleuler and K. Schneider. Data were collected on respondent characteristics, how interesting and useful the seminars were perceived to be and respondents’ knowledge of classic psychiatry authors. Results: respondents were interested in sport, music and literature; 95.8% regarded themselves as clinicians and 12.5% regarded themselves as teachers. The seminars were rated very interesting by 83.0% and very useful by 58.3%; they were considered to contribute to knowledge of the history of psychiatry, professional development and clinical practice. Most respondents (87.5%) stated that their knowledge of classic authors was inadequate or very inadequate. At the beginning of the seminar series only 29.2% of responses about the origin and author of the psychopathological concepts covered in the seminars were correct; this had increased to 65.4% by the end of the course. Conclusion: teaching psychopathology through the study of classical cases is valued by residents for various reasons, including its potential to enrich clinical practice.