Jean-Martin Charcot

Born in Paris in November 1825, Charcot trained as an anatomical pathologist before landing at the Salpêtrière hospital, where he transformed neurology from guesswork into systematic observation. His work with patients like Louise Augustine Gleizes made hysteria a legitimate field of study, though his methods - theatrical public lectures on hypnotized women - would later invite scrutiny. The demonstrations attracted figures like Sigmund Freud, who came to learn and left shaped. By the time Charcot died in August 1893, he'd become the foremost neurologist in France, his influence radiating into psychology and psychiatry. The Napoleon of the neuroses, they called him - at least fifteen diseases still bear his name.