Fulgence Raymond

Vocation

Notable

Family

French neurologist, the successor of Charcot at Salpêtrière. Raymond was the only child of a farmer who lived in Saint-Christophe-sur-le-Nais, near Tours. His parents hoped he would succeed his father, but as he was a bright pupil they permitted him to visit a veterinary school at Alfort. After joining the army and studying hard, he returned to the veterinary school as head of anatomy and physiology. He married at age 23. He then decided to become a medical doctor, but to be admitted to the medical school, he first had to to study Latin, Greek, mathematics and (natural) philosophy. So at the time he started the medical study in Paris, he had a wife (she would die soon), a daughter and only little money. Nevertheless he showed up as a brilliant student, who using the French system of state examinations, could climb up from veterinarian to professor in neurology at the Faculty of medicine in Paris. In 1894 Raymond succeeded professor of neurology Jean Martin Charcot at Hôpital Salpêtrière. Raymond wrote hundreds of scientific papers and was described as a modest and friendly man, who preferred compromise above fighting conflicts out. He died 28 September 1910 at age 65 near Poitiers. Link to Wikipedia