French medical biography stubs

Étienne_Jacques_Marie_Raymond_Céstan

Étienne Jacques Marie Raymond Céstan (6 April 1872, Gaillac – 1934) was a French neurologist.
From 1892 he studied medicine in Paris, and was subsequently a hospital interne and a student of Édouard Brissaud at the Salpêtrière. In 1899 he received his medical doctorate, and was chosen by Fulgence Raymond to be chef de clinique at the Salpêtrière. In 1903 he was put in charge of the histopathology laboratory, and during the following year, he obtained his agrégation. Soon afterwards, he moved to Toulouse, where in 1913 he attained the chair of psychiatry. At this position he conducted research on the development of cerebrospinal fluid and the effects of intra-ventricular injection.

Ferdinand_Monoyer

Ferdinand Monoyer (9 May 1836 – 11 July 1912) was a French ophthalmologist, known for introducing the dioptre in 1872.
He invented the Monoyer chart, used to test visual acuity. He inserted his name in the random letters of the chart. It appears when one reads vertically from bottom to top on each side.

Théophile_Alajouanine

Théophile Alajouanine (French: [teofil alaʒuanin]; 12 June 1890 – 2 May 1980) was a French neurologist.
Théophile Alajouanine was born in Verneix, Allier. He was a student of Joseph Jules Dejerine and a colleague of Georges Guillain and Charles Foix. He was a prolific writer on many topics but was particularly interested in aphasia.A great scholar and enthusiastic bibliophile, Alajouanine had privileged relationships with famous writers during his neurological and neuropsychological career. Fyodor Dostoevsky's biography and works provided him with a penetrating look into the world of epilepsy. He was the composer Ravel's neurologist, and published an account of the composer's aphasia.
The Laboratoire Théophile-Alajouanine, Centre hospitalier Côte-des-Neiges, Montréal is named after him.

Alexandre_Minkowski

Alexandre Minkowski (5 December 1915 – 7 May 2004) was a French paediatrician, and arguably the French physician who most influenced neonatology in the 20th century. He was born and died in Paris.
He was the son of the eminent medical philosopher, Eugene Minkowski and the psychiatrist, Françoise Minkowska. They were Polish Jewish doctors who became naturalised French citizens after World War I and settled in France. They kept up their links with their ancestral Poland.
His son is the orchestral conductor Marc Minkowski.

Pierre_Deniker

Pierre Deniker (16 February 1917, in Paris – 17 August 1998) was involved, jointly with Jean Delay and J. M. Harl, in the introduction of chlorpromazine (Thorazine), the first antipsychotic used in the treatment of schizophrenia, in the 1950s. Thorazine had been used in surgical procedures peri-operatively as an anti-nausea medication in France. Patients were noted to be less anxious and calmer. This observation eventually led Deniker to try chlorpromazine with patients who had schizophrenia, where he observed notable improvement in symptoms.
The pharmaceutical company Smith-Kline had purchased the chlorpromazine rights from Rhone-Poulenc in France and had been marketing it as an anti-nausea medication. After Deniker's observations, they sought and received FDA approval in 1954 to market Thorazine for the treatment of schizophrenia.

Angelo_Hesnard

Angelo Louis Marie Hesnard (or Angel Marie Louis Hesnard; 22 May 1886, Pontivy – 17 April 1969, Rochefort) was a French born psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, and was an important figure in 1930s French sexology.

Joseph_Grasset

Joseph Grasset (18 March 1849 – 7 July 1918), was a French neurologist and parapsychological investigator, born in Montpellier.He received his medical degree (1873) in Montpellier, where in 1881 he became a professor of therapy. In 1886, he attained the chair of clinical medicine, and in 1909 was appointed chair of general pathology.Grasset was involved in every aspect of internal medicine, but his primary interest concerned diseases of the nervous system. His name is associated with the "Grasset law", 'a condition where a patient with hemiparesis lying on his back can raise either leg separately, but is unable to raise both legs together.':649 This phenomenon is explained in his 1899 treatise, Diagnostic des maladies de la moëlle.He conducted studies in the field of psychiatry, publishing the book Demi-fous et Demi-responsables (Semi-Insane and the Semi-Responsible) in 1907, and also researched the paranormal, publishing works with titles such as Le spiritisme devant la science (1904) and L’occultisme hier et aujourd'hui (1907).His book L’occultisme hier et aujourd'hui was translated into English as The Marvels Beyond Science in 1910. Grasset took a psychological approach to psychical research and attributed mediumship to deliberate trickery or unconscious suggestion.