[History of Guillain-Barré syndrome]

1916: birth in Paris of a modest syndrome presented to a weekly meeting of the Société Médicale by Georges Guillain, Jean-Alexandre Barré and André Strohl. 1981: glorification of the syndrome as a world event in Santa Inez Valley at the International Conference held under the auspices of the Kroc Foundation. This is indeed a long way from a few clinicians and internists to the representatives of all branches of the Neurological Sciences for "la radiculo-névrite avec dissociation albumino-cytologique à évolution spontanément régressive "studied in two soldiers of the Vth French Army. Every neurologist from clinician to researcher currently knows this model of inflammatory and demyelinating diseases of the peripheral nervous system and the pros and cons of cellular vs humeral immunity which are presumed to be its pathophysiological process. What is less known is "la petite histoire" i.e. that of men and events which surrounded its birth and growth to being an entity. Why did André Strohl disappear? Who were L. Duménil and O. Landry? Should we say Guillain-Barré?, Landry-Guillain-Barré?, Duménil-Landry-Guillain-Barré? Unexpected or poorly known facts are not lacking in this story the last of which being that most references to that most French syndrome are to be found in English and American books.