Louis-Victor Marcé (3 June 1828,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

– August 1864) was a French

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

He initially studied medicine in

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

, afterwards continuing his studies in

, where in 1852 he gained his internship. In 1856 he obtained his doctorate with a dissertation on

spermatic The spermatic plexus (or testicular plexus) is derived from the renal plexus, receiving branches from the aortic plexus. It accompanies the internal spermatic artery to the testis A testicle or testis (plural testes) is the male reproductive ...

cysts titled "''Des kystes spermatiques ou de l'hydrocèle enkystée spermatique''". Shortly afterwards, he served as médecin-adjoint to

Jules Baillarger Jules Baillarger, full name Jules Gabriel François Baillarger (25 March 1809 – 31 December 1890), was a French neurologist and psychiatrist. Biography Baillarger was born in Montbazon, France. He studied medicine at the University of Paris un ...

(1809-1890) and

Jacques-Joseph Moreau Jacques-Joseph Moreau (3 June 1804 – 26 June 1884), nicknamed "Moreau de Tours", was a French psychiatrist and member of the Club des Hashischins. Moreau was the first physician to do systematic work on drugs' effects on the central nervo ...

(1804-1884) at a ''maison de santé'' in

Ivry-sur-Seine Ivry-sur-Seine () is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Paris's main Asian district, the Quartier Asiatique in the 13th arrondissement, borders the co ...

. In 1860 he received his

agrégation In France, the ''agrégation'' () is a competitive examination for civil service in the French public education system. Candidates for the examination, or ''agrégatifs'', become ''agrégés'' once they are admitted to the position of ''professe ...

to the medical faculty in Paris, and during the same year, worked as chief medical officer at "Ferme Sainte-Anne". Soon afterwards he was assigned as a physician to the

Bicêtre Hospital The Bicêtre Hospital is located in Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It lies 4.5 km (2.8 miles) from the center of Paris. The Bicêtre Hospital was originally planned as a military hospital, with constru ...

. In 1858 he published an important, comprehensive monograph dealing with prepartum and postpartum psychiatric disorders titled "''Traité de la folie des femmes enceintes, des nouvelles accouchées et des nourrices, et considérations médico-légales qui se rattachent à ce sujet''" (Treatise on the madness of pregnant women, etc.). The "Société Marcé Francophone", a French association for the study of

perinatal Prenatal development () includes the development of the embryo and of the fetus during a viviparous animal's gestation. Prenatal development starts with fertilization, in the germinal stage of embryonic development, and continues in fetal devel ...

and puerperal psychiatry, is named in his honour. In 1860 he issued an early work on

anorexia nervosa Anorexia nervosa, often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by low weight, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. ''Anorexia'' is a term of Gr ...

titled "''Note sur une forme de délire hypocondriaque consécutive aux dyspepsies et caractérisée principalement par le refus d'aliments''" (On a form of

hypochondria Hypochondriasis or hypochondria is a condition in which a person is excessively and unduly worried about having a serious illness. An old concept, the meaning of hypochondria has repeatedly changed. It has been claimed that this debilitating cond ...

cal delirium occurring consecutive to

dyspepsia Indigestion, also known as dyspepsia or upset stomach, is a condition of impaired digestion. Symptoms may include upper abdominal fullness, heartburn, nausea, belching, or upper abdominal pain. People may also experience feeling full earlier t ...

and characterized by refusal of food). Here he provided the first psychological accounts of individuals with anorexia nervosa in regards to obstinate behavioral characteristics. Neurologist

Albert Pitres Jean Marie Marcel Albert Pitres (26 August 1848 – 25 March 1928) was a French neurological physician. He was born in Bordeaux and received his training in Paris, where he was the student of Jean Martin Charcot (1825–1893) and Louis-Antoin ...

(1848-1928) credited Marcé for providing the first description for

agraphia Agraphia is an acquired neurological disorder causing a loss in the ability to communicate through writing, either due to some form of motor dysfunction or an inability to spell. The loss of writing ability may present with other language or neur ...

, based on a paper issued by Marcé in 1860.Eprints.bbk
Lorch, M. and Barrière, I. (2003) The history of written language disorders: reexamining Pitres' case (1884) of pure agraphia . Brain and Language 85 (2) 271-279

References

Psychiatrie Histoire
(biography of Louis-Victor Marcé) {{DEFAULTSORT:Marce, Louis-Victor 1864 deaths 1828 births French psychiatrists Scientists from Paris

See also

References