Jean Lhermitte

Following his early education at Saint-Etienne, he studied in Paris and graduated in medicine in 1907.

He specialised in neurology and became Chef-de-clinique (resident) for nervous diseases in 1908, Chef de laboratoire in 1910, and professeur agrégé for psychiatry 1922.

Lhermitte became head of the Dejerine Foundation, sponsored by Joseph Jules Dejerine, and clinical director at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital.

During World War I, Lhermitte studied spinal injuries and became interested in neuropsychiatry.

A deeply religious man, he explored the common territory between theology and medicine, and this led him to interesting studies on demonic possession and stigmatisation.