ESQUIROL

esquirol, jean etienne dominique (1772-1840), french alienist, was born at toulouse on the 3rd of february 1772. in 1794 he became a pupil of the military hospital of narbonne, and subsequently studied in paris at the salpetriere under p. pinel, whose assistant he became. in 1811 he was chosen physician to the salpetriere, and in 1817 he began a course of lectures on the treatment of the insane, in which he made such revelations of the abuses existing in the lunatic asylums of france that the government appointed a commission to inquire into the subject. esquirol in this and other ways greatly assisted pinel's efforts for the introduction of humaner methods. the asylums of rouen, nantes and montpellier were built in accordance with his plans. in 1823 he became inspector-general of the university of paris for the faculties of medicine, and in 1826 chief physician of the asylum at charenton. he died at paris on the 13th of december 1840. besides contributing to the _dictionnaire des sciences medicales_ and the _encyclopedie des gens du monde_, esquirol wrote _des maladies mentales, considerees sous les rapports medical, hygienique, et medico-legal_ (2 vols., paris, 1838).