Alfred Vulpian and Jean-Martin Charcot in Each Other’s Shadow? From Castor and Pollux at La Salpêtrière to Neurology Forever

Abstract

While Alfred Vulpian (1826–1887) is not completely forgotten, he cannot match the uninterrupted celebrity which Jean-Martin Charcot (1825–1893) still enjoys today. After becoming interne (residents) at the same institute in 1848, both were involved in shaping the cradle of what would become modern neurology. Both started work as chiefs at a La Salpêtrière service on January 1, 1862, making common rounds and studies, with several common publications. While their friendship remained ‘for life’, as stated by Charcot at Vulpian’s funeral, their career paths differed. Vulpian progressed quicker and higher, being appointed full professor and elected at the Académie Nationale de Médecine and the Académie des Sciences several years before Charcot, as well as becoming dean of the Paris Faculty of Medicine. These positions also enabled him to support his friend Charcot in getting appointed full clinical professor and becoming the first holder of the chair of Clinique des Maladies du Système Nerveux in 1882. Before studying medicine, Vulpian had worked in physiology with Pierre Flourens, and his career always remained balanced between physiology and neurology, with remarkable papers. He introduced Charcot to optic microscopy during their La Salpêtrière years, indirectly helping him to become his successor to the chair of pathological anatomy in 1872. While Vulpian succeeded so well in local medical affairs, Charcot spent his time building up a huge clinical service and a teaching ‘school’ at La Salpêtrière, which he never left for over 31 years until his death. This ‘school’ progressively became synonymous with clinical neurology itself and perpetuated the master’s memory for decades. Vulpian never had such support, although Jules Déjerine was his pupil and Joseph Babinski was his interne before becoming Charcot’s chef de clinique (chief of staff) in 1885. This unusual switch in Parisian medicine contributed to Charcot’s unaltered celebrity over more than a century, while Vulpian was progressively relegated to the studies of historians. However, Vulpian and Charcot remain inseparable in the memory of a lifelong friendship which gave birth to neurology.

Neuropathology in Pitié‐Salpêtrière hospital: Past, present and prospect

“…But the real beginning of neurology dates back to 1862, when two young men, Alfred Vulpian and Jean‐Martin Charcot were appointed at La Salpêtrière . Together, they accurately described the tremor of multiple sclerosis as opposed to the tremor seen in paralysis agitans , re‐named Parkinson's disease by Charcot during his lessons .…”

Jules Joseph Dejerine: an outstanding neurologist and Charcot's enemy

“…Alfred Vulpian and Charcot were residents in the same institute in 1848, and became very close friends, later working together as heads of department at Salpêtrière Hospital in 1862, carrying out studies together (on, for example, multiple sclerosis) and coauthoring various papers 1,2,4,8 . Although they got on well with each other, their academic careers evolved differently.…”

“…Vulpian progressed rapidly and was appointed professor, a member of the National Academy of Medicine, a member of the Academy of Sciences and, later, dean of the Paris Faculty of Medicine. Charcot' s academic career, by contrast, progressed more slowly, and it was not until 1882 that it culminated in his appointment as chair of Diseases of the Nervous System 1,4,8 . After 1882, a certain rivalry between them became evident in their pupils -Pierre Marie, Charcot' s most loyal disciple, and Dejerine 1,2,9 , who was renowned as Vulpian' s most brilliant disciple and had never worked with Charcot' s group at the Salpêtrière Hospital 1,2,3,8,9 .…”

“…Charcot' s academic career, by contrast, progressed more slowly, and it was not until 1882 that it culminated in his appointment as chair of Diseases of the Nervous System 1,4,8 . After 1882, a certain rivalry between them became evident in their pupils -Pierre Marie, Charcot' s most loyal disciple, and Dejerine 1,2,9 , who was renowned as Vulpian' s most brilliant disciple and had never worked with Charcot' s group at the Salpêtrière Hospital 1,2,3,8,9 . Although they respected each other, there was great rivalry between them and Charcot himself said that Dejerine had a stronger personality than his pupils, which became evident in the examination for the position of associate professor in 1886 1,2,3,8,9 .…”

“…From that time on, Dejerine started to behave antagonistically toward Charcot and his disciples and became their scientific rival and enemy 1,2,3,9 . Dejerine, in addition to competing with Charcot for the academic position, also represented an intellectual force from outside Salpêtrière 1,2,3,8,9 . From Charcot' s death in 1893, until 1910, Dejerine and Pierre Marie also became rivals, reflecting the indirect conflict between Vulpian and Charcot 1,2,3,9 .…”