Les Dejerine during World War I

Abstract

World War I (1914–1918), however cruel, was nonetheless an “edifying school of nervous system experimental pathology”, not only because of the types of injuries, but because they were more numerous than any physician could have foreseen. The peripheral nervous system, the spine and the brain were to benefit from advances in clinical and anatomical-functional knowledge. A few of the most famous Parisian neurologists at that time, Jules ( Fig. 1 ) and Augusta Dejerine, who directed the Military neurology centre at La Salpetriere took up the physically and emotionally exhausting challenge of treating thousands of wounded soldiers. They not only cared for them, but also studied them scientifically, with the help of a small but devoted group of colleagues. Alas, Jules Dejerine is already ill for several years and died in February 1917. After his death, Augusta Dejerine cared for convalescents in the hotel des invalides and in an annex of Hopital du Val-de-Grâce (V.G. 83) at the Château de By, in the village of Thomery (Seine et Marne, east of Paris). Some examples presented here reveal their courage and all of their efforts to continue her efforts make discoveries for which we remain grateful today.