Émile Jules Marie Joseph François (24 May 1907, in

Gingelom Gingelom () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. On 1 January 2006 Gingelom had a total population of 7,847. The total area is 56.49 km2 (21.81 sq mi) which gives a population density of 139 inhabitants per km2 (359/sq ...

– 13 August 1984, in

Zermatt Zermatt () is a municipality in the district of Visp in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is classified as a town by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO). ...

) was a Belgian ophthalmologist.

Biography

François received his medical degree at the

Catholic University of Louvain The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a p ...

in 1930 and specialized in ophthalmology and ophthalmic surgery. He went into private practice in ophthalmology in

Charleroi Charleroi ( , , ; wa, Tchålerwè ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By 1 January 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593.

. He remained active there as a scientific researcher and in 1942 became a professor at

Ghent University Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium. Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when the ...

and the director of Ghent University's eye clinic. François and his collaborators did important research on the anatomy of the central retinal artery and the central optic nerve artery. With Guy Verriest and Alfred De Rouck, Jules François did pioneering work in

electrooculography Electrooculography (EOG) is a technique for measuring the corneo-retinal standing potential that exists between the front and the back of the human eye. The resulting signal is called the electrooculogram. Primary applications are in ophthalmol ...

. Early in his career he studied general ophthalmology,

glaucoma Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that result in damage to the optic nerve (or retina) and cause vision loss. The most common type is open-angle (wide angle, chronic simple) glaucoma, in which the drainage angle for fluid within the eye rem ...

conjunctivitis Conjunctivitis, also known as pink eye, is inflammation of the conjunctiva, outermost layer of the white part of the eye and the inner surface of the eyelid. It makes the eye appear pink or reddish. Pain, burning, scratchiness, or itchiness may ...

fever therapy Pyrotherapy (artificial fever) is a method of treatment by raising the Core temperature, body temperature or sustaining an elevated body temperature using a fever. In general, the body temperature was maintained at 41 °C (105 °F). Ma ...

cataract A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye that leads to a decrease in vision. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colors, blurry or double vision, halos around light, trouble w ...

and

biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

. In the later part of his career he focused mainly on genetic studies, but retained his interest in general ophthalmology and surgery for eye diseases arising from

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

. François was the author or co-author of about 1,870 peer-reviewed articles and thirty-four books or book chapters in scientific texts. Some were standard works, such as ''L’hérédité en ophtalmologie'', ''Les cataractes congénitales'' and (as co-author with

Adolphe Franceschetti Adolphe Franceschetti (11 October 1896, in Zürich – 3 March 1968, in Geneva) was a Swiss ophthalmologist. He studied medicine at the University of Zürich, where he also spent several years as an assistant in its ophthalmological clinic. At ...

and Jean Babel) ''Les hérédo-degénéréscences choriorétiniennes''. He also an editorial board member of more than 30 medical journals. His reputation attracted eye specialists from more than 30 countries to do their training at Ghent University. He was the president and honorary president of International Council of Ophthalmology, the European Ophthalmological Society, and the Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis and was elected a member of several national academies. He was made an honorary doctor in about twenty universities and was a guest of honor at over eighty national and international meetings. In 1983 he was included in the Belgian hereditary nobility with the title of baron. He chose as his motto ''Ex oculo lux''. He married and was the father of a daughter.

Awards and honors

Gonin Medal The Gonin Medal is an international award given to one ophthalmologist every four years by the International Council of Ophthalmology. The award is named in honor of Swiss ophthalmologist Jules Gonin. It has been said to represent "the highest achie ...

(1966) * Donders Medal * Waardenburg Medal * (1975) * Chibret Medal * Duke-Elder Medal * Ophthamalogy Hall of Fame (2005) * Jules François Foundation (established to maintain the Jules François Library) * Prix Jules François (awarded every 4 years to recognize achievement by an ophthalmologist under the age of 40)

Eponyms

*Central cloudy dystrophy of FrançoisCentral cloudy dystrophy of François, University of Iowa Health Care, Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
/ref> (See also

corneal dystrophy Corneal dystrophy is a group of rare hereditary disorders characterised by bilateral abnormal deposition of substances in the transparent front part of the eye called the cornea. Signs and symptoms Corneal dystrophy may not significantly affect v ...

.) * François-Neetens dystrophy * Fraser-François syndrome * Hallermann–Streiff–François syndrome

Sources

* J. E. WINKELMAN, ''Award of the Donders Medal to Prof. J. François'', in: Ophthalmologica, 1975. * ''Professor Jules François'', in: Journal of Neurological Sciences, Amsterdam, 1984. * ''In Memoriam Baron Professor Jules François'', in: British Journal of Ophthalmology, 1985. * W. JAEGER, ''Numismatic history of the von Graefe Medal of the German Ophthalmological Society'', in: Klin Oczna, 1988.

References

External links

Paul Chibret and the Chibret Medal.

Duke-Elder Medal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Francois, Jules 1907 births 1984 deaths Academic staff of Ghent University Belgian ophthalmologists