Georges Albert Édouard Brutus Gilles de la Tourette (; 30 October 1857 – 22 May 1904) was a French neurologist and the namesake of

Tourette syndrome Tourette syndrome or Tourette's syndrome (abbreviated as TS or Tourette's) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence. It is characterized by multiple movement (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) ...

, a neurological condition characterized by

tic A tic is a sudden, repetitive, nonrhythmic motor movement or vocalization involving discrete muscle groups.American Psychiatric Association (2000)DSM-IV-TR: Tourette's Disorder.''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'', 4th ed., ...

s. His main contributions in medicine were in the fields of hypnotism and hysteria.

Early years

Gilles de la Tourette was born the oldest of four children on 30 October 1857 in the small town of

Saint-Gervais-les-Trois-Clochers Saint-Gervais-les-Trois-Clochers () is a commune in the Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in western France. Demographics Personalities * Georges Gilles de la Tourette, neurologist See also *Communes of the Vienne department ...

in the district of Châtellerault, near the city of

Loudun Loudun (; ; Poitevin: ''Loudin'') is a commune in the Vienne department and the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, western France. It is located south of the town of Chinon and 25 km to the east of the town Thouars. The area south of Loudun ...

.Walusinski (2019), pp. 3–4. During 1873, Gilles de la Tourette began medical studies at Poitiers at the age of sixteen. In 1881, he relocated to Paris, where he continued his studies at the Laennec Hospital.

Career

Gilles de la Tourette began his internship in 1884, working "at a superhuman pace, publishing, teaching and practicing clinical medicine". He became a student, amanuensis, and house physician of his mentor, influential contemporary neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot, director of the Salpêtrière Hospital. Charcot also helped him to advance in his academic career. Gilles de la Tourette studied and lectured in psychotherapy, hysteria, and medical and legal ramifications of

mesmerism Animal magnetism, also known as mesmerism, was a protoscientific theory developed by German doctor Franz Mesmer in the 18th century in relation to what he claimed to be an invisible natural force (''Lebensmagnetismus'') possessed by all liv ...

(modern-day

hypnosis Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention (the selective attention/selective inattention hypothesis, SASI), reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.In 2015, the American Psychologica ...

). Colleagues and historians have described him as a "highly intelligent, if irascible, character". In 1884, Charcot asked Gilles de la Tourette to work on

motor disorder Motor disorders are disorders of the nervous system that cause abnormal and involuntary movements. They can result from damage to the motor system. Motor disorders are defined in the fifth edition of the '' Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Men ...

latah Latah is a condition in which abnormal behaviors result from a person experiencing a sudden shock or other external stressor almost exclusively having been observed in persons from Southeast Asia. When induced, the affected person typically engag ...

, myriachit, and the

Jumping Frenchmen of Maine The Jumping Frenchmen of Maine were a group of 19th-century lumberjacks who exhibited a rare disorder of unknown origin. The syndrome entails an exaggerated startle reflex which may be described as an uncontrollable "jump"; individuals with this ...

had recently been described, and Gilles de la Tourette believed the conditions were related and separate from

chorea Chorea (or choreia, occasionally) is an abnormal involuntary movement disorder, one of a group of neurological disorders called dyskinesias. The term ''chorea'' is derived from the grc, χορεία ("dance"; see choreia), as the quick movem ...

. He described the symptoms of Tourette syndrome in one patient and collected previous observations of similar cases, and in 1885, he published a further nine cases using the name ''maladie des tics'' for the disorder. Charcot renamed the syndrome "Gilles de la Tourette's illness" in his honor, although the work was not well received at Salpêtrière. Gilles de la Tourette published an article on hysteria in the German Army, which angered Bismarck, and a further article about unhygienic conditions in the floating hospitals on the river

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

. With Gabriel Legué, he analyzed 17th-century abbess Jeanne des Anges' account of her hysteria that was allegedly based on her unrequited love for a priest

Urbain Grandier Urbain Grandier (1590 – 18 August 1634) was a French Catholic priest who was burned at the stake after being convicted of witchcraft, following the events of the so-called "Loudun possessions". Most modern commentators have concluded that Gra ...

, who was later burned for witchcraft.

Personal life and decline

Gilles de la Tourette married his cousin Marie Detrois (1867–1922) on 2 August 1887 in Loudon. Paul Brouardel and Charcot were witnesses. They had four children, three of whom lived to adulthood.Walusinski (2019), pp. 13–16. In 1893, a former female patient, who was later revealed to have psychosis, shot Gilles de la Tourette in the neck,Walusinski (2019), p. 72. claiming one of his colleagues had hypnotized her against her will. His mentor, Charcot, had died recently, and his young son had also died recently. Although he recovered from the shooting and continued to work and organize lectures, after these events, Gilles de la Tourette began to display symptoms of severe depression. After 1893, his mental health noticeably declined. In 1901, Charcot's son, Jean-Baptiste, convinced Gilles de la Tourette to travel to Switzerland on a ruse, and had him committed to a psychiatric hospital, where Gilles de la Tourette was diagnosed with

tertiary syphilis Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...

. His condition worsened and he was forced to resign. His wife and colleagues were not forthcoming about the causes of his internment. He died on 22 May 1904 with advanced dementia at the Lausanne Psychiatric Hospital in Cery from what was labeled a status seizure, and that his wife described as

apoplexy Apoplexy () is rupture of an internal organ and the accompanying symptoms. The term formerly referred to what is now called a stroke. Nowadays, health care professionals do not use the term, but instead specify the anatomic location of the bleedi ...

.Walusinski (2019)
pp. 113–120.
/ref> Lees (2019) states that "Gilles de la Tourette died of general paralysis of the insane (

neurosyphilis Neurosyphilis refers to infection of the central nervous system in a patient with syphilis. In the era of modern antibiotics the majority of neurosyphilis cases have been reported in HIV-infected patients. Meningitis is the most common neurologic ...

)".

Writings

Gilles de la Tourette published sixteen papers on hysteria, including: * ''Les actualités médicales, les états neurasthéniques'' (Paris 1898) * ''Leçons de clinique thérapeutique sur les maladies du système nerveux'' (Paris 1898) * ''L'hypnotisme et les états analogues au point de vue médico-légal'' (Paris, 1887; 2nd. edition Paris 1889) * ''Les actualités médicales. Formes cliniques et traitement des myélites syphilitiques' convulsifs'' (''La semaine médicale'' 1899) * ''Traité clinique et thérapeutique de l'hystérie d'après l'enseignement de la Salpêtrière'' (Paris 1891)

Notes

References

Books

* Walusinski O (2019). ''Georges Gilles de la Tourette: Beyond the Eponym, a Biography''. Oxford University Press.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilles de la Tourette, Georges 1857 births 1904 deaths People from Vienne People with mood disorders People with traumatic brain injuries French neurologists Tourette syndrome French shooting survivors French medical writers Amanuenses 19th-century French physicians Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur