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. 2023 Dec;81(12):1098-1111.
doi: 10.1055/s-0043-1775984. Epub 2023 Oct 29.

Jean-Martin Charcot: the polymath

Carlos Henrique Ferreira Camargo  1 , Léo Coutinho  1 , Ylmar Correa Neto  2 , Eliasz Engelhardt  3 , Pericles Maranhão Filho  4 , Olivier Walusinski  5 , Hélio Afonso Ghizoni Teive  1   6
Affiliations

Jean-Martin Charcot: the polymath

Carlos Henrique Ferreira Camargo et al. Arq Neuropsiquiatr. 2023 Dec.

Abstract
in English, Portuguese

Jean-Martin Charcot, widely regarded as a leading founder of modern neurology, made substantial contributions to the understanding and characterization of numerous medical conditions. His initial focus was on internal medicine, later expanding to include neuropathology, general neurology, and eventually emerging fields such as neuropsychology and neuropsychiatry. Furthermore, Charcot's intellectual pursuits extended beyond medicine, encompassing research in art history, medical iconography, sociology, religious studies, and the arts, solidifying his status as a polymath.

Jean-Martin Charcot, amplamente considerado como um proeminente fundador da neurologia moderna, fez contribuições substanciais para a compreensão e a caracterização de várias condições médicas. Seu foco inicial era a medicina interna, expandindo-se posteriormente para incluir a neuropatologia, a neurologia geral e, por fim, campos emergentes como a neuropsicologia e a neuropsiquiatria. Além disso, as buscas intelectuais de Charcot foram além da medicina, abrangendo pesquisas em história da arte, iconografia médica, sociologia, estudos religiosos e artes, solidificando seu status de polímata.

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Conflict of interest statement

There is no conflict of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Jean-Martin Charcot (1825–1893). Evolution of Charcot's appearance from his admission to La Salpêtrière (1860) to three years before his death (1890). Public domain ( https://commons.wikimedia.org : 1863, 1872, 1881, 1883) and personal collection (Walusinki: 1860, 1866, 1876, 1890).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Une Leçon Clinique à La Salpêtriére , from 1887, by André Brouillet. ( A ). A engraved reproduction of Brouillet's painting by Henri Dochy (1851–1915). (Corrêa Neto, personal collection). ( B ). Charcot and other characters of the painting in a drawing with the numbered silhouettes: 1-JM Charcot; 2- Blanche Wittman, the patient; 3- J Babinski; 4- Mlle. Bottard, head nurse; 5- GG de la Tourette; 6- R Vigouroux; 7- H Parinaud; 8- H Berbez; 9- A Londe; 10- G Guinon; 11- L le Bas; 12- A Gombaut; 13- A Arène; 14- J Claretie; 15- A Naquet; 16- Bourneville; 17- G Bellet; 18- V Cornil; 19- P Burty; 20- M Debove; 21- M Durval; 22- JB Charcot; 23- P Berbez; 24- E Brissaud; 25- A Joffroy; 26- P Marie; 27- CS Féré; 28- P Richer.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Charcot's drawings for scientific publications. ( A ). Charcot's Bell – Aphasias (Charcot and Rummo, 1884): The bell (campana [cloche]) rings, it is heard and seen. The centers were defined by clinicopathological analysis. Input – auditory input: CAC: center of shared hearing, and CAM: auditory center for words; visual input: CVC: center of shared vision, and CVM: visual center for words. Output – spoken output: CPM: center of articulated language; written output: CGM: center of written language. IC: ideation center. Arrows show the direction of the nervous paths connecting the centers. ( B ). Charcot-Leyden's Crystals (Vulpian and Charcot, 1860).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Charcot's thesis, defended at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Paris in 1853. Charcot drew the joint deformities to illustrate his doctoral thesis. (Charcot, 1853).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Caricatures by Charcot. Clockwise from top: (1) Professor Michel Eugene Chevreul (1786–1889) during Charcot's visit to a Tuesday session at the Academy of Sciences in Paris around 1885; (2) “The Areopagus,” Charcot drew his medical school colleagues as apes; (3) An old companion from his youth nicknamed “Platypus,” on an excursion in the mountains of Switzerland; (4) Faculty procession: his colleagues at the Paris medical school in pompous costumes during a procession; (5) The final two images portray his indignation during the Franco-Prussian war (1870): the first is untitled, depicting a tiny French soldier atop an enormous, inert Prussian one, and the second he called “ L'Avenir ” (“The Future”). Source: Walusinski, personal collection.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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