Charles Richet
French physiologist, Nobel laureate and spiritualist
Who was Charles Richet?
Charles Robert Richet (French pronunciation: [ʃaʁl ʁɔbɛʁ ʁiʃɛ]; 25 August 1850 – 4 December 1935) was a French physiologist at the Collège de France and immunology pioneer. He was born in Paris the son of Alfred Richet. He was educated at the Lycee Bonaparte in Paris then studied medicine at university in Paris. Richet devoted many years to the study of paranormal and spiritualist phenomena, coining the term "ectoplasm". He believed in the inferiority of black people, was a proponent of eugenics, and presided over the French Eugenics Society towards the end of his life. The Richet line of professorships of medical science continued through his son Charles and his grandson Gabriel. Gabriel Richet was also one of the pioneers of European nephrology.
Richet spent a period of time as an intern at the Salpêtrière hospital in Paris, where he observed Jean-Martin Charcot's work with then so called "hysterical" patients.
Historical significance
In 1913, he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "in recognition of his work on anaphylaxis".