Un nouveau remède pour un nouveau public

Isabelle Coquillard (1, 2)

1 UPN SSA - Université Paris Nanterre - UFR Sciences sociales et administration
2 MéMo - Centre d’histoire des sociétés Médiévales et Modernes

In 1784, animal magnetism, doctrine and medical practice, founded the Faculty of medicine of Paris. In agreement with the new treatment, doctor Deslon has numerous patients. Some agree to share their therapeutic experiences in public through stories signed accounts and go so far as to produce a plea in favor of Deslon in reaction to hostile reports to animal magnetism from the Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society of Medicine. So, this internal conflict at the Faculty of medicine turns into a medical question debated publicly in the name of the general interest by non-health professionals, patients and doctors. Creator of its own space of affirmation at the heart of medical debates, this new public is an actor with which medical experts must come to terms so as not to have to seek royal intervention. Composed of various elements, it denounces the despotism of the Faculty and its only purpose to safeguard its corporate interests.

Keywords: Animal magnetism; Faculty of medicine of Paris; Patient agency; Deslon; Health occupations

Keywords: Magnétisme animal; Faculté de médecine de Paris; Agentivité des malades; Deslon; Professions de santé

Domains: History

Isabelle Coquillard. Un nouveau remède pour un nouveau public : Choisir et défendre le magnétisme animal à Paris en 1784-1785. La Révolution française - Cahiers de l’Institut d’histoire de la Révolution française, 2023, 24, ⟨10.4000/lrf.7076⟩. ⟨hal-04065397⟩