Jacques Jean Lhermitte (20 January 1877 – 24 January 1959) was a French neurologist and neuropsychiatrist.

Early life and education

Lhermitte was born in Mont-Saint-Père, Aisne, son of Léon Augustin Lhermitte, a French realist painter. Following his early education at Saint-Etienne, he studied in Paris and graduated in medicine in 1907. He specialised in neurology and became Chef-de-clinique (resident) for nervous diseases in 1908, Chef de laboratoire in 1910, and professeur agrégé for psychiatry 1922.

Career

Lhermitte became head of the Dejerine Foundation, sponsored by Joseph Jules Dejerine, and clinical director at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital. During World War I, Lhermitte studied spinal injuries and became interested in neuropsychiatry. This led to publications on visual hallucinations of the self. A deeply religious man, he explored the common territory between theology and medicine, and this led him to interesting studies on demonic possession and stigmatisation.

Medical eponyms

Lhermitte was a clinical neurologist. A number of medical eponyms bear his name: