The Charcot-Bouchard controversy
V. J. Iragui
Charles Bouchard, an ambitious and industrious man, was one of Jean Martin
Charcot's first pupils. With his mentor's support, he rapidly ascended the
academic ladder and became a full professor at the school of medicine in
Paris. After Bouchard attained professorship, his relationship with Charcot
gradually deteriorated. Their strong personalities, their ambition to have
schools of their own, and their competition to become the most influential
man in the medical school resulted in antagonism between them. The most
tragic consequence of this antagonism took place in 1892 when Bouchard
presided over the competitive examinations for agregation, in which Joseph
Babinski, one of Charcot's youngest pupils, was a candidate. Charcot wanted
his pupil to be nominated but Bouchard eliminated him in order to nominate
his own pupils. The nominations were appealed but finally Bouchard's
decision was upheld. Babinski did not retake the examination and never
became a professor at the medical school.
