Jean-Martin Charcot | |
---|---|
Born |
Paris, France |
29 November 1825
Died | 16 August 1893 Lac des Settons, Nièvre, France |
(aged 67)
Residence | France |
Nationality | French |
Fields | Neurologist and professor of anatomical pathology |
Institutions | Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital |
Known for | Studying and discovering neurological diseases |
Jean-Martin Charcot (/ʃɑːrˈkoʊ/; French: [ʃaʁko]; 29 November 1825 – 16 August 1893) was a French neurologist and professor of anatomical pathology. He is known as "the founder of modern neurology", and his name has been associated with at least 15 medical eponyms, including Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease and Charcot disease (better known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, motor neurone disease, or Lou Gehrig disease). Charcot has been referred to as "the father of French neurology and one of the world's pioneers of neurology". His work greatly influenced the developing fields of neurology and psychology; modern psychiatry owes much to the work of Charcot and his direct followers. He was the "foremost neurologist of late nineteenth-century France" and has been called "the Napoleon of the neuroses".
Born in Paris, Charcot worked and taught at the famous Salpêtrière Hospital for 33 years. His reputation as an instructor drew students from all over Europe. In 1882, he established a neurology clinic at Salpêtrière, which was the first of its kind in Europe. Charcot was a part of the French neurological tradition and studied under, and greatly revered, Duchenne de Boulogne.
"He married a rich widow, Madame Durvis, in 1862 and had two children, Jeanne and Jean-Baptiste, who later became a doctor and a famous polar explorer".
He was accused of being an atheist.