Laurent Cerise


Laurent Alexis Philibert Cerise was a French physician born in Aosta.
He studied medicine at the University of Turin, obtaining his doctorate in 1828. In 1831 he relocated to Paris, where he subsequently drew a large clientele, both rich and poor.
His early written articles appeared in the magazine L'Européen, and due to their social and philosophical content, gained the attention of the learned society in Paris. In 1836 he published "Le Médecin des salles d'asile", a treatise in which he maintains that underprivileged children should have the same access to a physician as do children of the wealthy. The same year he released "L'Exposé et examen critique du système phrénologique de Gall", where he disparages the limitations of purely "materialistic medicine".
Another noted work of his was "Des fonctions et des maladies nerveuses dans leurs rapports avec l'e´ducation sociale et privee, morale et physique". In 1843 with Jacques-Joseph Moreau, Jules Baillarger and François Achille Longet, he founded the psychiatric journal "Annales médico-psychologiques".
During his career he maintained close ties with principal figures of the Italian Risorgimento. In 1853 he became a member of the Accademia delle Scienze de Turin, and in 1864 became a member of the Académie de Médecine in Paris.