Henri-Étienne Beaunis (2 August 1830 – 20 July 1921) was a French

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out chemical and ...

and

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

. He defended the thesis of the

Nancy School The Nancy School was a French hypnosis-centered school of psychotherapy. The origins of the thoughts were brought about by Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault in 1866, in Nancy, France. Through his publications and therapy sessions he was able to gain t ...

in the field of

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 Psychological ...

. He is known for his works on

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

and

Childhood

Henri-Étienne Beaunis was born in

Amboise Amboise (; ) is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Today a small market town, it was once home to the French royal court. Geography Amboise lies on the banks of the river Loire, east of Tours. It is also about awa ...

in 1830. The name on his birth certificate is Henry-Étienne Beaunis, but most of his publications were made under the name of Henri-Étienne Beaunis.Nicolas, Serge (1995
Henri Beaunis (1830–1921) Directeur-fondateur du laboratoire de psychologie physiologique de la sorbonne
L'année Psychologique 95:267-291 His mother, who was married to a government employee, had to leave

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

when the city became threatened by the

July revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after French Revolution, the first of 1789–99. It led to the overthrow of King Cha ...

. When his mother returned to his father, she left Beaunis in

Touraine Touraine (; ) is one of the traditional provinces of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, Touraine was divided between the departments of Indre-et-Loire, :Loir-et-Cher, Indre and Vien ...

under the care of his grandmother. When he was very young, he started to be interested to reading and arts. He had great successes at school and obtained successively the Baccalauréat ès lettres (1848) and the Baccalauréat ès sciences physiques (1849).

Studies

He studied in

until he began his medical specialisation in Paris. He obtained his medical doctoral degree in

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

in 1856. His thesis was focused on habits and was published under the name of ''De l'habitude en général''. He presented his vision of habits and pleaded for people to see habits as ways of improving ourselves, and not as repetitive acts that allows us to please ourselves in rest and happiness. His father was not an enthusiast for the arts and encouraged him to pursue the path of medicine. Henri-Étienne Beaunis chose medicine and enlisted himself in the

French army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

. He served in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

many times and came back to France with the title of ''médecin-major de deuxième classe'' in 1860. His work ''Anatomie générale et physiologie du système lymphatique'' was presented as a thesis for his ''aggrégation de médecine'' in anatomical and physiological sciences. This was an obligatory step in France to become a professor. He then became professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. Founded in the 16th century by Johannes Sturm, it was a center of intellectual life during ...

Early career

Five years after he became professor at

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, he published a book called ''Nouveaux éléments d'anatomie descriptive et d'embryologie'' with his colleague Abel Bouchard, who was also a medic in the army.Beaunis, H.E., Bouchard A. (1868
Nouveaux éléments d'anatomie descriptive et d'embryologie
J.B. Baillière et fils, eds. The book was a synthesis of the

anatomical Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

and

embryological Embryology (from Greek ἔμβρυον, ''embryon'', "the unborn, embryo"; and -λογία, ''-logia'') is the branch of animal biology that studies the prenatal development of gametes (sex cells), fertilization, and development of embryos an ...

knowledge for students of science and medicine. The authors used their knowledge of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

to stay in touch with the latest discoveries, which were often published in German during this period. Beaunis wrote the sections on

osteology Osteology () is the scientific study of bones, practiced by osteologists . A subdiscipline of anatomy, anthropology, archaeology and paleontology, osteology is the detailed study of the structure of bones, skeletal elements, teeth, microbone mo ...

, articulations, myology,

viscera In a multicellular organism, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in a structural unit to serve a common function. In the hierarchy of life, an organ lies between tissue and an organ system. Tissues are formed from same type cells to a ...

, senses, the human body in general, and

embryology Embryology (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἔμβρυον, ''embryon'', "the unborn, embryo"; and -λογία, ''-logy, -logia'') is the branch of animal biology that studies the Prenatal development (biology), prenatal development of gametes (sex ...

. Bouchard wrote the sections on

angiology Angiology (from Greek , ''angeīon'', "vessel"; and , ''-logia'') is the medical specialty dedicated to studying the circulatory system and of the lymphatic system, i.e., arteries, veins and lymphatic vessels. In the UK, this field is more ...

and

neurology Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix wikt:-logia, -logia, "study of") is the branch of specialty (medicine) , medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous syst ...

. In 1870 and 1871, Beaunis underwent 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 ...

which led to the French side losing a part of Alsace-Lorraine. In 1871, he published in the ''Gazette médicale de Paris'' extracts of his diary describing his life during this period and more specifically during the

Siege of Strasbourg The siege of Strasbourg took place during the Franco-Prussian War, and resulted in the French surrender of the fortress on 28 September 1870. After the German victory at Wörth, troops from the Grand Duchy of Baden under Prussian General ...

. He described the intellectual climate that was developing before the war and the progressive opening to scientific dialogs both in Germany and France, especially in the fields of physiology and medicine. After his involvement as a

medic A medic is a person trained to provide medical care, encompassing a wide range of individuals involved in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of health conditions. The term can refer to fully qualified medical practitioners, such as physic ...

, the Faculty of Medicine of Strasbourg was transferred to Nancy, where he obtained the chair of Physiology, following the disappearance of E. Küss, who was the previous holder.

Works in physiology and anatomy

In 1874, he published his observations on a case of

Situs inversus ''Situs inversus'' (also called ''situs transversus'' or ''oppositus'') is a Congenital disorder, congenital condition in which the major Organ (anatomy), visceral organs are reversed or mirror image, mirrored from their normal positions. The norm ...

, a particular condition in which internal organs are misplaced in the body. His most massive work of this period was ''Nouveaux Élements de physiologie humaine comprenant les principes de la physiologie comparée et de la physiologie générale'', a book that synthesises the knowledge in physiology at that time, including knowledge in

physiological psychology Physiological psychology is a subdivision of behavioral neuroscience (biological psychology) that studies the neural mechanisms of perception and behavior through direct manipulation of the brains of nonhuman animal subjects in controlled experime ...

, which was usually left to philosophers. Supplementary editions were published in 1881 and 1888. In Nancy, he published with Abel Bouchard ''Précis d'anatomie et de dissection'' in 1877. He considers this book as a sequel to ''Nouveaux éléments d'anatomie descriptive et d'embryologie''. Since the publication of ''Nouveaux Élements de physiologie humaine'', Beaunis had demonstrated his interest in including psychological processes in the general field of physiology. In 1884, he started publishing texts that explored this question specifically. He published ''De la justesse et de la fausseté de la voix'', a treatise that exposes amongst other ideas the idea that speech in man is the very complex expression of communicative capacities that are present in other animals and that speech is generated through mechanical processes involving mouth and throat muscles. His laboratory started being well equipped in 1876, after which he started publishing scientific results that were collectively published in 1884. This collective work is called ''Recherches expérimentales sur les conditions de l'activité cérébrale et sur la physiologie des nerfs'' and describes some of the works of Albert Küss, Albert René, Maxime Drouot, Charles Mayard and Eugène Gley. The majority of these works had been published in the ''Revue médicale de l'Est'' or the ''Gazette des hôpitaux''. The experiments described were performed in the laboratory of Beaunis. They consist in studying cerebral physiology, which would today be called

neurophysiology Neurophysiology is a branch of physiology and neuroscience concerned with the functions of the nervous system and their mechanisms. The term ''neurophysiology'' originates from the Greek word ''νεῦρον'' ("nerve") and ''physiology'' (whic ...

. The research performed during this period in the laboratory include works on pneumotherapy, the physiological effects of

nicotine Nicotine is a natural product, naturally produced alkaloid in the nightshade family of plants (most predominantly in tobacco and ''Duboisia hopwoodii'') and is widely used recreational drug use, recreationally as a stimulant and anxiolytic. As ...

diuretic A diuretic () is any substance that promotes diuresis, the increased production of urine. This includes forced diuresis. A diuretic tablet is sometimes colloquially called a water tablet. There are several categories of diuretics. All diuretics ...

agents, the effects of

cognitive processes Cognition is the "mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thought, ima ...

pulse In medicine, the pulse refers to the rhythmic pulsations (expansion and contraction) of an artery in response to the cardiac cycle (heartbeat). The pulse may be felt ( palpated) in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surfac ...

aneurysm An aneurysm is an outward :wikt:bulge, bulging, likened to a bubble or balloon, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall. Aneurysms may be a result of a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms can also b ...

respiration Respiration may refer to: Biology * Cellular respiration, the process in which nutrients are converted into useful energy in a cell ** Anaerobic respiration, cellular respiration without oxygen ** Maintenance respiration, the amount of cellul ...

muscle contractions Muscle contraction is the activation of tension-generating sites within muscle cells. In physiology, muscle contraction does not necessarily mean muscle shortening because muscle tension can be produced without changes in muscle length, such as ...

and

reaction time Mental chronometry is the scientific study of processing speed or reaction time on cognitive tasks to infer the content, duration, and temporal sequencing of mental operations. Reaction time (RT; also referred to as "response time") is measured ...

to sensorial stimuli. His works in

led him to gain interest in

. He joined

Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault (; 1823–1904) was a French physician and is considered the father of modern hypnotherapy. Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault was born in Favières, a small town in the Lorraine region of France, on September 16, 1823. He com ...

Hippolyte Bernheim Hippolyte Bernheim (17 April 1840, in Mulhouse – 2 February 1919, in Paris) was a French physician and neurologist. He is chiefly known for his theory of suggestibility in relation to hypnotism. Life Born into a Jewish family, Bernheim receiv ...

and Jules Liégeois to defend the theses of the

against those of the Salpêtrière School of

Jean Martin Charcot Jean-Martin Charcot (; 29 November 1825 – 16 August 1893) was a French neurologist and professor of anatomical pathology. He worked on groundbreaking work about hypnosis and hysteria, in particular with his hysteria patient Louise Augustine G ...

. The

thought that

was a state similar to

sleep Sleep is a state of reduced mental and physical activity in which consciousness is altered and certain Sensory nervous system, sensory activity is inhibited. During sleep, there is a marked decrease in muscle activity and interactions with th ...

produced by

suggestion Suggestion is the psychological process by which a person guides their own or another person's desired thoughts, feelings, and behaviors by presenting stimuli that may elicit them as reflexes instead of relying on conscious effort. Nineteenth-cent ...

, while the Salpêtrière School thought that it was a pathological state similar to

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 ...

. In 1887, he published ''Le somnambulisme provoqué: études physiologiques et psychologiques'' that he originally wanted to include in ''Recherches expérimentales sur les conditions de l'activité cérébrale et sur la physiologie des nerfs''. The pressure of his editors encouraged him to create a separate work. After this publication on

, he continued to publish general works in

and

psychophysiology Psychophysiology (from Greek , ''psȳkhē'', "breath, life, soul"; , ''physis'', "nature, origin"; and , '' -logia'') is the branch of psychology that is concerned with the physiological bases of psychological processes. While psychophysiolog ...

. In 1889, he published ''Les sensations internes'', a synthesis of internal

sense A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the surroundings through the detection of Stimulus (physiology), stimuli. Although, in some cultures, five human senses were traditio ...

s other than the five classically studied senses which underlie physiological mechanisms. In 1890, he published ''L'évolution du système nerveux''. In 1889, he founded at the Sorbonne the first French psychology laboratory. In 1894, he founded with

Alfred Binet Alfred Binet (; ; 8 July 1857 – 18 October 1911), born Alfredo Binetti, was a French psychologist who together with Théodore Simon invented the first practical intelligence test, the Binet–Simon test. In 1904, Binet took part in a comm ...

the scientific journal ''

L'Année psychologique ''L'Année Psychologique'' (the "Annual Journal of Psychology") is the oldest French peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated exclusively to scientific psychology. It covers cognitive psychology, experimental psychology, developmental psychology, s ...

''. In 1893, he published in his ''Travaux du Laboratoire de Psychologie Physiologique'', a description of two cases of

synesthesia Synesthesia (American English) or synaesthesia (British English) is a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. People with sy ...

Works on art

Henri-Étienne Beaunis maintained throughout from his college years to his death a passion for arts. In 1917, he completed a work started at least in 1891 that consisted in traducing the

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

of Eschyle.Beaunis H. (1917
Tragédies
/ref> He also published some

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

s under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

of Paul Abaur. He died at

Le Cannet Le Cannet (; ; older ) is a commune of the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. Administration Le Cannet was part of Cannes until 1778, when it was made a separate commune. Location Le Cannet is located in the north of Canne ...

Memoir

Serge Nicolas Serge Nicolas is a French professor of psychology at the Institute of Psychology of the University of Paris, Institute of Psychology of the University of Paris (2019), University of Paris since 2003. He specializes in the study of memory and his ...

, who wrote the most complete biography of Henri-Étienne Beaunis, had access to a small part of the

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...

written by Henri-Étienne Beaunis. The complete

has not been recovered yet. In the biography he wrote,

formulates the wish that his writing be recovered and made public.

Works

*''De l'habitude en général'', 1856 *''L'Italienne, scènes des guerres contemporaines, drame en 1 acte et 2 tableaux en vers'', 1859 *''Anatomie générale et physiologie du système lymphatique'', 1863 *
Nouveaux éléments d'anatomie descriptive et d'embryologie
', 1868, J.B. Baillière et fils, eds. (co-written with Abel Bouchard) *''Tratado elemental de Anatomía descriptiva y de preparaciones anatómicas'', 1869 (co-written with Alexandre Jamain, Abel Bouchard and Eusebio Rogelio Casas de Batista) *''Impressions de campagne (1870–1871)'', 1871–1872, Gazette médicale de Paris (réed. Beaunis, H.E. (1887
Impressions de campagne (1870-1871)
Félix Alcan, Berger-Levrault et Cie, eds.) *''Programme du cours complémentaire de physiologie fait à la Faculté de médecine de Strasbourg: semestre d'été 1869'', 1872 *''Remarques sur un cas de transposition générale des viscères'', 1874, Berger-Levrault & Cie., eds *''Remarques sur la transposition des viscères'', 1874, Revue médicale de l'Est *''Les Principes de la physiologie, par H. Beaunis, professeur de physiologie à la Faculté de médecine de Nancy. Leçon d'ouverture'', 1875, Berger-Levrault, eds. *''Nouveaux Élements de physiologie humaine comprenant les principes de la physiologie comparée et de la physiologie générale''. J.B. Baillière et fils, eds. (reed. in 1881 an
1888
*
Précis d'anatomie et de dissection
', 1877, J.B. Baillière et fils, eds. (co-written with Abel Bouchard) *
Compendio de anatomía y diseccion
', 1877, Moya y Plaza ed. (co-written with Abel Bouchard and Moya y Plaza) *
Nuevos elementos de anatomía descriptiva y de embriología, Volume 2
', 1878, Moya y Plaza ed. (co-written with Abel Bouchard and Moya y Plaza, traduced by Gerardo F. Jeremías y Devesa) *
Claude Bernard, leçon d'ouverture du cours de physiologie
', 1878, Berger-Levrault eds. *''Sur la comparaison du temps de réaction des différentes sensations'', 1883. Revue Philosophique 15:611-620 *''L'expérimentation en psychologie par le somnambulisme provoqué'', 1885. Revue Philosophique 20:1-36, 113-115 *''Influence de la durée de l'attente sur le temps de réactions'', 1885. Revue Philosophique 20:330-331 *''Suggestion à 172 jours d'intervalle'', 1885. Revue Philosophique 20:332 *''Un fait de suggestion mentale'', 1885. Revue Philosophique 21:204 *''De la justesse et de la fausseté de la voix'', 1884. J.-B. Baillière et Fils, eds. *
Recherches expérimentales sur les conditions de l'activité cérébrale et sur la physiologie des nerfs
', 1884. J.-B. Baillière et Fils, eds. *''Novyia osnovy fizīologīi chelovieka'', 1884 *
Le somnambulisme provoqué: études physiologiques et psychologiques
', 1887. J.-B. Baillière et Fils, eds. (reed
L'Harmattan
2007) *''Une expérience sur le sens musculaire'', 1887. Revue Philosophique 23:328-330 *''L'École du service de santé militaire de Strasbourg et la Faculté de médecine de Strasbourg de 1856 à 1870'', 1888, Berger-Levrault et cie. *
Les sensations internes
', 1889. Félix Alcan, ed. *''L'évolution du système nerveux'', 1888. Revue scientifique 25:257-263, 361-368, 757-764 *''Recherches sur la mémoire des sensations musculaires'', 1888. Revue Philosophique 25:569-574 *''L'évolution du système nerveux'', 1889. Revue scientifique 26:8-17 *
Der künstlich hervorgerufene Somnambulismus: physiologische und psychologische Studien
', 1889. Deuticke, ed. *''L'évolution du système nerveux'', 1890. J.B. Baillière et fils, eds. *''Les Suppliantes, d'Eschyle: drame lyrique en deux tableaux et en vers'', 1891. Marpon et Flammarion, eds. *''Travaux du Laboratoire de Psychologie Physiologique'', 1893–1894 *''Introduction, L'Année Psychologique I'', 1895. *''Contes physiologiques: Madame Mazurel'', 1895. Société d'éditions littéraires, éds. (publié sous le pseudonyme Paul Abaur) *''Contribution à la psychologie du rêve'', 1903. American Journal of Psychology 14:271-287 *''Les fantoches sur la Côte d'Azur, fantaisie revue en 1 acte et en vers'', 1908. V. Guiglion, ed. *''El sonambulismo provocado: estudios fisiológicos y psicológicos'', 1908. Bailly-Baillière e hijos, eds. *''Comment fonctionne mon cerveau : essai de psychologie introspective'', 1909. Revue Philosophique 67:29-40 *''Le mécanisme cérébral: observations personnelles'', 1910. Revue Philosophique 69:464-482 *''Deux cas de lucidité télépathique'', 1914. Annales des sciences psychiques, février *''Elementi di fisiologia umana comprendenti i principii di fisiologia comparata e di fisiologia general'', 1916. Unione Tipografico editrice, eds. *''Oeuvres d'Eschyle'', 1917. Le Cannet, ed. *''Tragédies'', 1917. *''L'émotion musicale'', 1918. Revue Philosophique 86:353-369. *''Heures tragiques: 1870-1871, 1914–1919, Poésies'', 1919. Le Cannet, V. Guillon, eds. *''Sonnets fantaisistes: silhouettes contemporaines : octobre 1920'', 1920. *''Les aveugles de naissance et le monde extérieur'', 1921. Revue Philosophique XCI:15-74

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beaunis, Henri 1830 births 1921 deaths People from Amboise Academic staff of the University of Lorraine French hypnotists French physiologists History of psychology French psychologists