Jules Dejerine and the Alfred Vulpian French neurological dynasty

Abstract

In all countries, diverse neurological traditions have arisen over time. The Salpetriere School of Neurology founded by Alfred Vulpian and Jean-Martin Charcot in the 1860s stands paramount in the western world during the second half of the nineteenth century. With Vulpian's leaving the old hospice in 1869, Charcot became the sole leader of this school. Charcot became the most sought of neurological teacher of his time. His fame attracted numerous students and celebrities to attend his teaching. He was also known to actively support his best students in their quest to rise in the medical world of the capital and elsewhere in France and abroad. Jules Dejerine and Augusta Klumpke did follow Charcot's teaching and had friendly relations with some of his students. However, the Suisse neurologist and the American Paris medical graduate develop their shared interest in neurology and neuropathology in the Vulpian laboratory. Vulpian's influence on Dejerine's career was critical. Dejerine by marrying Augusta Klumpke, who became a leading neuropathologist in her own right, further placed him in direct competition with some of Charcot's student in the race to acquire medical and professorial appointments in the capital. The professional tandem was a force to contend with in the small world of Parisian neurology. The growing rivalry led to the creation of two neurological traditions in the capital. Three dramatic historical events led to a public awareness on the growing antagonism. Dejerine's success in the aggregation competition in 1886, a key contest that opened the door to a professorial career, was opposed by the Salpetriere School ( Figure 1 ). The famous 1906–1908 debate on aphasia between Pierre Marie to Augusta Klumpke and her husband was one of very open hostility between the rivals. The dramatic ejection of Augusta Klumpke by Pierre Marie from the Salpetriere following the death of her husband in 1917 was the last dramatic chapter of this antagonism. This eviction of the mecca of French neurology imparted to the Vulpian-Dejerine tradition a culture of survival that though more marginal in its contribution to French neurology, nonetheless had a significant influence by promoting the career of neurologists involved in laboratory research who greatly enriched neurological science.