Charles Lasègue

Life & Legacy

Ernest-Charles Lasègue (5 September 1816 – 20 March 1883) was a French medical doctor who released over one hundred scientific papers. He became recognized in the mid-19th century from his work in the fields of psychiatry and neurology. He published many of his works in a journal called Archives Générales de Médecine (Archives of General Medicine), in which he was an editor. A few of his major contributions consisted of his work with delusions of persecutions, a concept coined "folie à deux," and his description of hysterical anorexia. Aside from his publications, he worked various jobs before becoming the Chair of Clinical Medicine at Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital. He remained positioned there until dying at the age of 66 due to complications from diabetes.