Désiré-Magloire Bourneville () (20 October 1840 – 28 May 1909) 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 ...

born in Garencières.

Career

He studied medicine 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 ...

, and worked as ''interne des hôpitaux'' at the Salpêtrière, Bicêtre,

Hôpital Saint-Louis Hôpital Saint-Louis () is a hospital in Paris, France. It was built in 1611 by architect Claude Vellefaux at the request of Henry IV of France. It is part of the Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris hospital system, and it is located at 1 a ...

and the Pitié. During the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

, he served as both a

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

and an assistant medical officer. From 1879 to 1905 he was a physician of

pediatric Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many of their youth ...

services at Bicêtre. In Paris, he founded a day school for special instruction of children with mental disability. In 1866, during a severe

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

epidemic in

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...

, he volunteered his services, and after the siege had passed, was presented with a gold watch as an expression of the city's gratitude. During the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...

(1871), when revolutionaries wanted to execute their wounded enemies, Bourneville intervened and saved the prisoners' lives. He was elected to the Paris city council in 1876 and to the

French Parliament The French Parliament (, ) is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of the French Fifth Republic, consisting of the Senate (France), Senate (), and the National Assembly (France), National Assembly (). Each assembly conducts legislative sessi ...

in 1883, where he served as a deputy until 1889. In both positions he advocated reforms of the health system. As a politician, he spearheaded efforts to train professional, secular nurses to replace the religious sisters who staffed most of the nation's hospitals at the time. In 1880, he provided an early description of a multi-symptom disorder that was to become known as "Bourneville's syndrome", now known as

tuberous sclerosis Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a rare multisystem autosomal dominant genetic disease that causes non-cancerous tumours to grow in the brain and on other vital organs such as the kidneys, heart, liver, eyes, lungs and skin. A combinatio ...

. This genetic condition may lead to mental retardation,

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of Non-communicable disease, non-communicable Neurological disorder, neurological disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent, unprovoked Seizure, seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of abnormal electrical activit ...

, a disfiguring facial rash and benign tumors in the brain, heart,

kidney In humans, the kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped blood-filtering organ (anatomy), organs that are a multilobar, multipapillary form of mammalian kidneys, usually without signs of external lobulation. They are located on the left and rig ...

and other organs. The condition was also studied by the British

dermatologist Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist is a specialist medi ...

John James Pringle John James Pringle (1855 – 18 December 1922) was a Scottish dermatologist. Biography Pringle was born in Borgue, Kirkcudbrightshire and educated at Merchiston Castle School. He graduated in medicine from the University of Edinburgh in 1876 ...

(1855–1922), leading some historical texts to refer to it as "Bourneville-Pringle disease". Bourneville published works which stated that

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

s claiming to produce

miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...

s or

stigmata Stigmata (, plural of , 'mark, spot, brand'), in Roman Catholicism, Catholicism, are bodily wounds, scars and pain which appear in locations corresponding to the Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion Five Holy Wounds, wounds of Jesus in Christian ...

, and those claiming to be

possessed Possessed may refer to: Possession * Possession (disambiguation), having some degree of control over something else ** Spirit possession, whereby gods, demons, animas, or other disincarnate entities may temporarily take control of a human body *** ...

were actually suffering from

hysteria Hysteria is a term used to mean ungovernable emotional excess and can refer to a temporary state of mind or emotion. In the nineteenth century, female hysteria was considered a diagnosable physical illness in women. It is assumed that the bas ...

. Bourneville was skeptical of

mystical Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight ...

and

supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

claims. Between 1882 and 1902, he published a series of volumes known as ''La Bibliothèque Diabolique'', in these he re-evaluated historical cases of possession and

witchcraft Witchcraft is the use of Magic (supernatural), magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meanin ...

in favor for pathological explanations.

Writings

''De la sclérose en plaques disséminées''
(1869)
''Études du thermométrie clinique dans l'hémorrhagie cérébrale''
(1872)
''Science et miracle: Louise Lateau, ou la stigmatisée belge''
(1878) * ''Sclérose tubéreuse des circonvolution cérébrales: Idiotie et épilepsie hemiplégique''. Archives de neurologie, Paris, 1880, 1: 81–91. * ''Encéphalite ou sclérose tubéreuse des circonvolutions cérébrales''. Archives de neurologie, Paris, 1881, 1: 390–412.
@

Who Named It ''Whonamedit?'' is an online English-language dictionary of medical eponyms and the people associated with their identification. Though it is a dictionary, many eponyms and persons are presented in extensive articles with comprehensive bibliograp ...

''Iconographie photographique de la Salpêtrière. Service de Jean Charcot''
(with Paul-Marie-Léon Regnard 1850–1927). three volumes, Paris 1876–1880.
''Assistance, traitement et éducation des enfants idiots et dégénérés''
Paris, 1895. * Le Sabbat des Sorciers, with E. Teinturier (1882)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bourneville, Desire-Magloire 1840 births 1909 deaths People from Eure French neurologists French pediatricians French sceptics

Career

Writings

See also

References

External links