Cécile Vogt-Mugnier (27 March 1875 – 4 May 1962) was a French
neurologist
Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous system, which comprises the brain, the ...
from
Haute-Savoie
Haute-Savoie () is a Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region of Southeastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its Prefectures in France, prefecture is Annecy. To the north is Lake Gene ...
. She and her husband
Oskar Vogt are known for their extensive
cytoarchetecture studies on the brain.
Professional life
Education and career
Vogt-Mugnier obtained her medical
doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
in 1900 and studied under
Pierre Marie at the
Bicêtre Hospital. At the time, women only made up 6% of those receiving medical doctorates, even though it had been thirty years since women were first admitted to medical studies.
[Helga Satzinger �]
Femininity and Science: The Brain Researcher Cécile Vogt (1875-1962)
. Translation of: Weiblichkeit und Wissenschaft. In: Bleker, Johanna (ed.): Der Eintritt der Frauen in die Gelehrtenrepublik. Husum, 1998, 75-93. Vogt-Mugnier and her husband's findings on
myelinogenesis led to her dissertation work on the fiber systems in the cat cerebral cortex (''Étude sur la myelination of hémishères cérébraux'') and the beginning of their research in architectonics.
In
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, Vogt-Mugnier was awarded her
medical license
A medical license is an occupational license that permits a person to legally practice medicine. In most countries, a person must have a medical license bestowed either by a specified government-approved professional association or a government ...
on January 16, 1920. Because of her scientific achievements and medical experience, she was not required to sit examinations or undergo the year of practical training.
Despite her accomplishments, Vogt-Mugnier's own career and recognition remained minimal. It was only between the years 1919 and 1937 that she held a formal, paid position as a scientist at the
Kaiser Wilhelm Institute
The Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Advancement of Science () was a German scientific institution established in the German Empire in 1911. Its functions were taken over by the Max Planck Society. The Kaiser Wilhelm Society was an umbrella organi ...
. Her position as department head corresponded to that of an extraordinary professor. For most of her life, however, she worked without compensation, and lived on her husband's earnings.
Research contributions
Vogt-Mugnier and her husband's main interest was the identification and characterization of distinct regions in the
neocortex
The neocortex, also called the neopallium, isocortex, or the six-layered cortex, is a set of layers of the mammalian cerebral cortex involved in higher-order brain functions such as sensory perception, cognition, generation of motor commands, ...
by both functional and structural criteria.
The Vogts were attempting to precisely locate the regions in the
cerebral cortex
The cerebral cortex, also known as the cerebral mantle, is the outer layer of neural tissue of the cerebrum of the brain in humans and other mammals. It is the largest site of Neuron, neural integration in the central nervous system, and plays ...
that correlate with specific brain functions. This also motivated their experimental work on
electrostimulation of the cortices in 150 monkeys. In this endeavor, they collaborated with
Korbinian Brodmann
Korbinian Brodmann (17 November 1868 – 22 August 1918) was a German neuropsychiatrist who is known for mapping the cerebral cortex and defining 52 distinct regions, known as Brodmann areas, based on their cytoarchitectonic (histological) cha ...
to map areas of the cortex and the thalamus.
The first publication produced from the couple's collaboration was a
monograph
A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...
of the
myelination of the anterior part of the brain in the cat. The finding led to the Vogts' questioning of the German neurologist
Paul Flechsig's doctrine of association centers. Together they pursued advanced neuropathological research, publishing their findings on both cyto- and myelo-architecture in the central nervous system and on the functional anatomy of the basal ganglia.
In 1909, Vogt-Mugnier published ''La myelocytoarchitecture du thalamus du cercopithèque'' (
Myelocytoarchitecture of the
Thalamus
The thalamus (: thalami; from Greek language, Greek Wikt:θάλαμος, θάλαμος, "chamber") is a large mass of gray matter on the lateral wall of the third ventricle forming the wikt:dorsal, dorsal part of the diencephalon (a division of ...
of the
Cercopithecus), in which she reported her experiments in tracing
afferent fibers to the thalamic
ventral nuclear group
The ventral nuclear group is a collection of nuclei on the ventral side of the thalamus
The thalamus (: thalami; from Greek language, Greek Wikt:θάλαμος, θάλαμος, "chamber") is a large mass of gray matter on the lateral wall of th ...
.
In 1911, Vogt-Mugnier rediscovered the so-called '
status marmoratus' of the
corpus striatum, characterized by slow, writhing, purposeless movements mainly affecting the hands and face.
This syndrome had already been described by Gabriel Anton in 1896, however his paper attracted little attention whereas Vogt-Mugnier's report brought it to the forefront of research in basal ganglia pathology.
Vogt-Mugnier continued to lead the pioneering work on the neuroanatomy of the thalamus and together with
Hermann Oppenheim published their findings on hereditary
palsy Palsy is a medical term which refers to various types of paralysisDan Agin, ''More Than Genes: What Science Can Tell Us About Toxic Chemicals, Development, and the Risk to Our Children'' (2009), p. 172. or paresis, often accompanied by weakness and ...
and double
athetosis, in which she noted the mottled appearance of the striatum.
In 1922, the Vogts defined the concept of
pathoclisis through their research on insects and the human cerebral cortex.
In January 1923, the Vogts traveled to
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
to participate in the First All-Russian Congress for Psychoneurology. While there, they delivered a lecture on 'pathoarchitectonics and pathoclisis' and reported on their twenty-five years of experience in investigating the structures of the cerebral cortex.
After 1933 the Vogts collided with the
Nazi regime
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...
over their Russian contacts and their fierce defense of their scientific independence and their collaborators, forcing Oskar to retire from their brain research institute in Berlin. However, they were able to continue their work on a smaller scale in Neustadt.
Foundation of research institutes
In 1898, the Vogts founded a private research institute called the ''Neurologische Zentralstation'' (Neurological Center) in Berlin, which was formally associated with the Physiological Institute of the
Charité
The Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité – Berlin University of Medicine; ) is Europe's List of hospitals by capacity, largest university hospital, affiliated with Humboldt University of Berlin, Humboldt University and the Free ...
as the Neurobiological Laboratory of the
Berlin University in 1902.
This institute served as the basis for the 1914 formation of the ''Kaiser Institut für Hirnforschung'' (
Kaiser Wilhelm Institute
The Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Advancement of Science () was a German scientific institution established in the German Empire in 1911. Its functions were taken over by the Max Planck Society. The Kaiser Wilhelm Society was an umbrella organi ...
for Brain Research), of which Oskar was a director.
This institute also gave rise to the
Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in 1945.
In 1936, Vogt-Mugnier accompanied her husband to
Southern Germany
Southern Germany (, ) is a region of Germany that includes the areas in which Upper German dialects are spoken, which includes the stem duchies of Bavaria and Swabia in present-day Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, and the southern portion of Hesse ...
where they established the ''Institut für Hirnforschung und allgemeine Biologie'' (Institute of Brain Research and General Biology) in
Neustadt.
In 1959, the Vogts founded the Cécile and Oskar Vogt Institute for Brain Research. This was taken over in 1964 by the
University of Düsseldorf
A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...
and remains one of the largest collections of brain slices in the world.
Despite never achieving a formal position of power in these institutes, Vogt-Mugnier was described by former collaborator Adolf Hopf as having significant control over the organizational work:
Honors and accomplishments
In 1924, Vogt-Mugnier became co-editor of the ''Journal für Psychologie und Neurologie ''(Journal for Psychology and Neurology) along with her husband. The journal appeared under their joint direction after 1954 as the ''Journal für Hirnforschung'' (Journal for Brain Research), published by the
Akademie Verlag
:''There also were unrelated publishing houses in Stuttgart and in (East-)Berlin, and there is the (JAVG).''
Akademie Verlag (AV) is a German scientific and academic publishing company, founded in 1946 in the Soviet-occupied eastern part ...
in
East Berlin
East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...
.
In 1932 Vogt-Mugnier received her highest scientific recognition when she and her husband were both elected into the
German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (), in short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded on 1 January 1652, based on academic models in Italy, it was originally named the ''Academi ...
at
Halle, the highest academic distinction given by an institution in Germany, with members including 169
Nobel laureates
The Nobel Prizes (, ) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make outstanding contributions in th ...
. In 1950, she and Oskar were awarded with the First Class
National Prize of East Germany, and she became a member of the
German Academy of Sciences at Berlin
The German Academy of Sciences at Berlin, , in 1972 renamed the Academy of Sciences of the GDR (''Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR (AdW)''), was the most eminent Research institute, research institution of East Germany (German Democratic Repub ...
. Vogt-Mugnier also received honorary doctorates from the Universities of
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...
and
Jena
Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...
and the
Humboldt University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany.
The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...
.
The Vogt couple later received public attention through the novel ''Lenin's Brain'' by
Tilman Spengler (1991), as Oscar Vogt received the honorary assignment of investigating the brain of
Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...
after his death. In 1998, Helga Satzinger published the book ''Die Geschichte der genetisch orientierten Hirnforschung von Cécile und Oskar Vogt in der Zeit von 1895 bis ca. 1927'' (The history of genetically oriented brain research by Cécile and Oskar Vogt from 1895 to circa 1927) documenting their work.
Personal life
Early life
Cécile Vogt-Mugnier was born Augustine Marie Cécile Mugnier in
Annecy, France and she lost her father when she was only two years old. A wealthy and devoutly religious aunt paid for her education at a convent school, but Cécile rebelled against the system shortly after her
first communion
First Communion is a ceremony in some Christian traditions during which a person of the church first receives the Eucharist. It is most common in many parts of the Latin tradition of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church and Anglican Communion (ot ...
. Disinherited, she returned to live with her mother but continued with her studies. She prepared for her
baccalauréat
The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...
examinations with private teachers and obtained a
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
in science. At the age of eighteen she became one of the very few women to be admitted to the
medical school
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...
in Paris.
Family
In 1897, 22-year-old Cécile Vogt-Mugnier found herself pregnant, unmarried, and in the middle of earning a medical degree. While at
Bicêtre Vogt-Mugnier met her future husband,
Oskar Vogt, when he came to Paris to work with
Joseph Jules Déjérine (and his wife,
Augusta Marie Dejerine-Klumke, who collaborated with him). Little is known about their first meetings in 1898, except that they hardly understood each other's language.
They married against Oskar's mother's wishes in 1899.
The Vogt couple collaborated on their research for sixty years, usually with Cécile as the primary
author
In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...
. The Vogts had three daughters, all accomplished scientists in their own rights.
*
Claire Vogt (1898-1978) was a illegitimate daughter of Vogt-Mugnier born out of wedlock by an unknown father. At the age of 4 she is recognized by
Oskar Vogt as her daughter. She was a pioneering pediatric neurologist and neuropsychiatrist in Paris.
*
Marthe Vogt (1903–2003) was a neuropharmacologist who became a
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
and a professor at Cambridge.
*
Marguerite Vogt (1913–2007) started as a developmental geneticist working in ''
Drosophila
''Drosophila'' (), from Ancient Greek δρόσος (''drósos''), meaning "dew", and φίλος (''phílos''), meaning "loving", is a genus of fly, belonging to the family Drosophilidae, whose members are often called "small fruit flies" or p ...
'', then moved to the US in 1950. She developed methods to culture
poliovirus
Poliovirus, the causative agent of polio (also known as poliomyelitis), is a serotype of the species '' Enterovirus C'', in the family of '' Picornaviridae''. There are three poliovirus serotypes, numbered 1, 2, and 3.
Poliovirus is composed ...
with
Renato Dulbecco
Renato Dulbecco ( , ; February 22, 1914 – February 19, 2012) was an Italian–American virologist who won the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on oncoviruses, which are viruses that can cause cancer when they infect anim ...
. She was a faculty member at The
Salk Institute for Biological Studies
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is a scientific research institute in the La Jolla community of San Diego, California. The independent, non-profit institute was founded in 1960 by Jonas Salk, the developer of the polio vaccine; among th ...
where she worked on viral transformation and cellular immortalization of cancer cells.
Personality
As a young child, Vogt-Mugnier was described as already having "an independent and unconventional mind". The neurologist
Igor Klatzo, who worked with Vogt at the brain research institute in
Schwarzwald (from 1946 to 1949), described her as a liberal woman with humanistic ideals:
According to Klatzo many thought that Vogt-Mugnier was the most distinguished of the Vogt couple and that it was she who had developed the basic ideas for their work on the
basal ganglia
The basal ganglia (BG) or basal nuclei are a group of subcortical Nucleus (neuroanatomy), nuclei found in the brains of vertebrates. In humans and other primates, differences exist, primarily in the division of the globus pallidus into externa ...
. Despite this, she remained in the background, taking on the role of caring wife and mother, supporting Oskar and defending his actions.
The neurosurgeon
Wilder Penfield
Wilder Graves Penfield (January 26, 1891April 5, 1976) was an American-Canadian neurosurgeon. He expanded brain surgery's methods and techniques, including mapping the functions of various regions of the brain such as the cortical homunculus. ...
met the couple in 1928 and recalled Vogt-Mugnier:
Her intelligence often surprised people and left those who encountered her with a lasting impression:
Late life
Later in their career, the Vogts turned their focus to
genetics
Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinians, Augustinian ...
, experimenting with insects that they had collected on their holiday trips to the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
, the
Balkans
The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
,
North Africa
North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...
, and the
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...
. Their younger daughter Marguerite pursued this research for some ten years before departing to
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
.
They continued their work until Oskar died in 1959, and after the death of her husband Vogt-Mugnier moved to
Cambridge, England
Cambridge ( ) is a city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of ...
to be with their elder daughter Marthe. Cécile died there in 1962.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vogt-Mugnier, Cecile
20th-century German women scientists
1875 births
1962 deaths
People from Annecy
French neurologists
Women neurologists
French women neuroscientists
French neuroscientists
20th-century French women scientists
20th-century German scientists
20th-century French scientists