Valentin Magnan

MAGNAN, Valentin (Valentin Magnan, 1835–1916), a famous French psychiatrist; graduated from the medical faculty in 1858; was an intern at the Salpêtrière, a pupil of Falret and Baillarger, and from 1867 to 1912 was a physician at the admission ward of the Sainte-Anne Asylum, where his activity was concentrated for 45 years. Magnan's clinical lectures attracted listeners from all countries. The peak of his fame dates back to the 1880s and 1890s. Magnan's first works were devoted to experimental epilepsy in absinthe poisoning (1864–1870) and the pathological anatomy of progressive paralysis (1866). His research in the field of chronic cocainism was of great importance, where he described a pathognomonic sign: tactile hallucinations ("Magnan's symptom"). In 1885–1887, Magnan put forward his doctrine of degeneration, acting as an original follower of the anthropological and psychiatric views of Morel. Magnan divides psychoses into two large groups: 1) simple psychoses, to which a person who was previously entirely normal may be subject, and the predisposition to which was "simple," having remained latent for a long time; and 2) degenerative psychoses, affecting individuals who from birth were distinguished by a clear disharmony of their development and a weakened psychophysical organization. Magnan focused not so much on Morel's idea of gradual degeneration and extinction as on the study of the individual characteristics of individuals with hereditary loading. He believed that the degenerating are all those unadapted to the struggle for existence, who react easily with a psychotic outburst (délire d'emblée) to severe experiences. He was the first to introduce the concept of "dégénérés supérieurs" (superior degenerates), who, along with outstanding talents, exhibit behavioral oddities and mental instability, which greatly widened the framework of the concept of "degenerate." This doctrine of Magnan, on the one hand, contributed to a more detailed delineation of frequent clinical syndromes and the establishment of a number of prognostic signs; in this area, Magnan's works on chronic delusion (délire chronique), obsessive-compulsive states, impulsivity, dipsomania, sexual perversions, intermittent psychoses, and others were of the greatest importance. On the other hand, Magnan's doctrine—which in evaluating a given personality as degenerative proceeded largely from moments of social evaluation and thus frequently declared biologically inferior that which was socially negative for the author according to his class stances—was one of the foundations upon which the most reactionary eugenic theories were built (see Eugenics). In France, Magnan created a vast school, the main representatives of which were Legrain, Soury, and Serieux (Legrain, Soury, Sérieux); in his medical and practical activity, Magnan was a supporter of the most progressive initiatives (abolition of the "straitjacket," establishment of psychiatric colonies, etc.). Magnan's main works: «De la lésion anatomique dans la paralysie générale» (thesis, Paris, 1866); «Étude expérimentale et clinique sur l'alcoolisme, alcool et absinthe» (Paris, 1871); «Recherches sur les centres nerveux» (Paris, 1876); «L'alcoolisme en Russie» (St. Petersburg, 1877; with the participation of P. Merzheevsky); «Leçons cliniques sur les maladies mentales» (Paris, 1893); «Les dégénérés» (jointly with V. Legrain, Paris, 1895; Russian edition—St. Petersburg, 1903).