Jean-Martin Charcot, father of modern neurology: an homage 120 years after his death

Abstract

Jean-Martin Charcot was a pioneer in a variety of subjects, including nervous system diseases; anatomy; physiology; pathology; and diseases of ageing, joints, and lungs. His medical achievements were mainly based on his anatomopathological proficiency, his observation, and his personal thoroughness that favored the delineation of the nosology of the main neurological diseases, including multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, peroneal muscular atrophy, and hysteria/epilepsy. The link of this anatomoclinical method with iconographic representations and theatrical lessons, and the rich bibliographical documentations, carried out in a crowded diseased people barn - Salpetrière hospital were the basis of his achievements, which are still discussed 120 years after his death.