The Assassination Attempt

Abstract

Although 1893 began with a promising start as Gilles de la Tourette finished the second part of his treatise on hysteria, Hystérie pathologique. Later, in June, he was pronounced “Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur” on behalf of the French Ministry of the Interior for the decisive role he had played in the erection of a statue to honor Théophraste Renaudot. However, five weeks after the death of his son from meningitis in July 1893, Gilles de la Tourette’s teacher Charcot died. Then, in December of the same year, Rose Kamper, a former patient at La Salpêtrière, attempted to assassinate Gilles de la Tourette in his office. The author examines this murder attempt in the context of unpublished documents and newspaper articles.