Joseph D'Aquin (14 January 1732 – 11 July 1815) was an early pioneer in the field of

psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of deleterious mental disorder, mental conditions. These include matters related to cognition, perceptions, Mood (psychology), mood, emotion, and behavior. ...

Biography

Joseph D'Aquin (or Daquin) was born in 1732 in

Chambéry Chambéry (, , ; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Savoie Departments of France, department in the southeastern ...

, in the duchy of

Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

, part of the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia, also referred to as the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica among other names, was a State (polity), country in Southern Europe from the late 13th until the mid-19th century, and from 1297 to 1768 for the Corsican part of ...

. He attended medical school at the

University of Turin The University of Turin (Italian language, Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public university, public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the List ...

, where he graduated in 1757. He also studied at

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 ...

and Paris. In 1791, he published a book entitled ''Philosophy of madness'', which some consider the first book in the field of psychiatry. However, his recognition has been limited by the fact that

Philippe Pinel Philippe Pinel (; 20 April 1745 – 25 October 1826) was a French physician, precursor of psychiatry and incidentally a zoologist. He was instrumental in the development of a more humane psychological approach to the custody and care of ps ...

never cited the work of Joseph D'Aquin in his famous medical and philosophical ''Traité médico-philosophique sur l'aliénation mentale; ou la manie'' published in 1801.

Literary works

* ''À ses Concitoyens (de vaccine...)'', 13 pages * ''Analyse des eaux thermales d'Aix en Savoye (Thermal waters analysis of Aix in Savoy)'', 1772, published by F. Gorrin * ''Analyse des prétendues eaux ferrugineuses de la Boisse, situées près de Chambéry'', 1777, published by J. Lullin, 35 pages * ''Topographie medicale de la ville de Chambery et de ses environs (Medical topography of the city of Chambery and its environs)'', 1787, published by F. Gorrin, 151 pages * ''Défense de la topographie médicale de Chambery'', 1788, published by F. Gorrin, 58 pages * ''La Philosophie de la folie (The philosophy of madness)'', 1791, First edition. * ''La Philosophie de la folie (The philosophy of madness)'', 1804, Second edition dedicated to

. * ''Des eaux thermales d'Aix dans le département du Mont-Blanc: de leurs vertus médicales.. (Thermal waters of Aix in the Mont Blanc region: their medical virtues...)'', 1808, published by P. Cléaz, 369 pages

Tributes and awards

* Member of the Academy of Sciences, Humanities and Arts of Lyon * Member of the Agricultural Society of Turin * Permanent Secretary of the Agricultural Society of Chambéry * Correspondent of the Royal Society of Medicine in Paris, which awarded J. D'Aquin a gold medal for his work entitled "Medical Topography of the city of Chambéry and its environs" published in 1787.

Biography

Literary works

Tributes and awards

References

Further reading