Édouard Brissaud, Fulgence Raymond and the succession of Charcot

At the time of his death in 1893, Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893) had reigned supreme over neurology in Paris for some 10 years. The problem of finding a successor was not easy to solve, and it was initially agreed that a temporary replacement should be found. Édouard Brissaud (1852-1909), one of Charcot's students and close associates, was charged with this mission. With the support of some of Charcot's other former students, he held the position of chair for diseases of the nervous system for 1 year. In theory, there were a number of potential successors, but only three were officially declared: Édouard Brissaud, Jules Déjerine (1849-1917) and Fulgence Raymond (1844- 1910). Other students of Charcot such as Pierre Marie (1853-1940), Alix Joffroy (1844-1908), Joseph Babinski (1857-1932) and Georges Gilles de la Tourette (1857-1904) had to withdraw their candidature for various reasons. The election culminated in the appointment of Fulgence Raymond as Charcot's successor. Although such an impossible succession was beyond Raymond, his work in neurology, which is often unrecognised, made him one of the most important neurologists of the early 20th century.