Ludovicus (Ludo) Maria Carolus Gommarus van Bogaert was born on 25 May 1897, into an old Belgian family with Flemish roots and Catholic beliefs, in Antwerp in Belgium.
[1] When World War I broke out, Bogart wanted to join the Belgian army, but was not selected for military service due to his young age.
[1][4] A spinal injury that happened in September 1918, due to a bullet that penetrated his right lung, which also caused a temporary paralysis of both legs, had sparked his interest in neurology, so after graduation he decided to specialise in neurology and neuropathology and gone to Paris to study under Pierre Marie at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital and under Marcel Labbé at the Hôpital de la Charité.
[5][6] Ludo van Bogaert is remembered for his 753 scientific publications, with 175 as first author, lectures at Belgian and foreign universities and international congresses, and the more than 300 specialists he trained at the Bunge Institute (opened in 1934) and the Born-Bunge Foundation.
[12][11] Nyssen-van Bogaert Syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes blindness, deafness and developmental delay, is named after him and another Belgian neurologist Rene Nyssen.