Jean-Martin CHARCOT – Hysteria treated by static electricity.

Jean-Martin CHARCOT (1825- 1893)

Autographed letter signed to a colleague.  

Two pages in-12° on paper with his address at the Hôtel de Varengeville.

Discreet repair to the fold on the back of the sheet.

Paris, February 13, 1891.

"I hope that electricity and massage can contribute to the healing process."

The French neurologist, a leading figure at the Salpêtrière School, directs a sick patient towards a treatment combining electrical therapy and massage.

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"My dear Mr. Gauthier, Would you be willing to take an interest in the patient shown here , who is being treated by Mr. Vigouroux [Dr. Romain Vigouroux (1831-1911)] ? The unfortunate lady is in a hurry; she lives in Lucca – I hope that electricity and massage will contribute to her recovery. Please accept my sincere regards. Charcot. February 13, 1891."

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Jean-Martin Charcot remains one of the most illustrious French clinicians and the initiator of modern neurology and psychopathology, in light of his work on hypnosis and his research on hysteria.

A professor of pathological anatomy at the University of Paris from 1860 to 1893, Charcot opened a neurological clinic in 1882 within the Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris, welcoming students from all over the world. The most famous of these, Sigmund Freud—a student from 1885 to 1886—testified to how decisive Charcot's work on hysteria was for his psychoanalytic research: "Charcot is one of the greatest physicians whose reasoning borders on genius, [...] no one has ever had such an influence on me." His work on the psychological origins of neurosis would be built upon Charcot's studies on hypnosis training.

Elected a member of the Academy of Medicine in 1873, his work on the nervous system led him to establish a very precise description of multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; the infamous Charcot's disease.

However, it was this work on hysteria and hypnosis that revolutionized 19th-century medicine. These treatment methods, often criticized, gave considerable importance to treatments using electricity (as mentioned in this letter). As early as 1875, the neurologist had an electrotherapy department organized for this purpose by the physician Romain Vigouroux, developing therapy using static electricity.

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The Hôtel de Varengeville, also the Hôtel de Guerchy, is a private mansion located at 217 Boulevard Saint-Germain in the 7th ^{arrondissement} of Paris, which now houses the Maison de l'Amérique latine (House of Latin America). Jean-Martin Charcot acquired the mansion from the Gontaut-Biron family in 1884. Upon the neurologist's death, his heirs sold the mansion to the Banque d'Algérie (Bank of Algeria). Following Algerian independence in 1962, the property passed to the Caisse des retraités de la Banque de France (Bank of France Pension Fund).