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Editorial
. 2022 Apr 20;10(5):644.
doi: 10.3390/vaccines10050644.

In Search of a Lost Father: Adrien Proust (1834-1903), An Almost Forgotten Public Health Pioneer

Donatella Lippi  1 , Elena Varotto  2 , Sara Boccalini  3 , Angela Bechini  3 , Francesco Maria Galassi  2
Affiliations
Editorial

In Search of a Lost Father: Adrien Proust (1834-1903), An Almost Forgotten Public Health Pioneer

Donatella Lippi et al. Vaccines (Basel). .

Abstract

Objectives: In this communication, we wish to remember the important historical role played by Marcel Proust's father, the now mostly forgotten Achille-Adrien Proust (1834-1903).

Study design and methods: His career, scientific interests and, above all, his brilliant intuitions and suggestions in the fight against cholera in the 19th century are recalled.

Results and conclusions: His role in the promotion of a globally effective vision of public hygiene and health is stressed as a bright example for modern physicians fighting contemporary epidemics.

Keywords: Proust; history of medicine; hygiene; pandemic emergency; public health; tradition.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Photograph showing Adrien Achille Proust (1834–1903) taken on 26th November 1886. Image in the public domain from Wikipedia. Available online at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrien_Proust#/media/File:Adrien_Proust_1834–1903.jpg (last accessed on 27 February 2022).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Frontispiece of Proust’s 1862 medical doctoral dissertation Du pneumothorax essentiel ou pneumothorax sans perforation. The text is freely accessible on the Wellcome Collection’s website: https://wellcomecollection.org/works/nybrbuus (last accessed on 27 February 2022).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. Académie Nationale de Médecine . Index Biographique des Membres, des Associés et des Correspondants de l’Académie de Médecine: 1820–1990. 4th ed. Académie Nationale de Médecine; Paris, France: 1991.
    1. Elogepar E. Bulletin de l’Académie de Médecine. 1903. [(accessed on 10 April 2022)]. Lancereaux le 1er décembre 1903; p. 345. tome 50-n°39. Available online: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k408710h.texteBrut?download=1.
    1. Proust A. Ph.D. Thesis. Paris, France: 1862. [(accessed on 10 April 2022)]. Du Pneumothorax Essentiel ou Pneumothorax sans Perforation. Available online: https://www.biusante.parisdescartes.fr/sfhm/hsm/HSMx1968x002x003_4/HSMx1....
    1. Proust A. Thesis. Faculté de Médecine de Paris; Paris, France: 1866. [(accessed on 10 April 2022)]. Des Différentes Formes de Ramollissement du Cerveau. Available online: https://wellcomecollection.org/works/pzv28rb8.

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