Glimpses of Gilles de la Tourette’s Personality

Abstract

Using unpublished letters as well as press excerpts, the author examines Gilles de la Tourette’s relationships with hospital administrators and journalists, which provide insight into his personality. Responding to an unfortunate case sensationalized by the press, Gilles de la Tourette aggressively defended his reputation while also revealing cognitive difficulties that would worsen over time. Starting in 1893, Gilles de la Tourette’s behavior gradually changed, a sign of syphilitic general paralysis. The chapter presents previously unpublished letters that he sent to the administrators of his hospital, where he was in charge of a department and describes his reaction to a slanderous press campaign. In addition to Gilles de la Tourette’s condition, the new documents elucidate the state of Parisian hospitals and the challenges of hospital physicians at the end of the nineteenth century.