Great Careers: Cornil, Bouchard, Bourneville and Proust

Abstract

Several French physicians of the 19th century are considered to be the pioneers of modern neurology, especially Jean-Martin Charcot. Later, the pupils of Charcot--interns at La Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris, including Cornil, Bouchard and Bourneville--went on to make great contributions to the field of neurology with their own discoveries. Specifically, with their mentor, they made the following contributions: Bouchard is responsible for first-ever description of cerebral hemorrhage pathogenesis; Bourneville arranged for the publication of Charcot's works; Cornil demonstrated histological evidence that supported Guillaume Duchenne's hypothesis regarding the cause of paralysis in poliomyelitis and he made the first diagnosis of chronic childhood arthritis. Besides these physicians, Adrien Proust, the father of the novelist Marcel, who had met Charcot at the Salpêtrière during the early part of his career, was a renowned physician, who also contributed greatly to research through his published works on stroke, aphasia, hysteria and neurasthenia.