Étienne Lancereaux

Who was Étienne Lancereaux?

Étienne Lancereaux was a French physician born in Brécy-Brières. He is remembered for pioneer contributions made in the understanding of diabetes.

He studied medicine in Reims and Paris, receiving his medical doctorate in 1862. From 1869 he served as médecin des hôpitaux, working in various hospitals in Paris. In 1872 he earned his agrégation, and later in his career he was appointed president of the Académie Nationale de Médecine. His best known student was Nicolae Paulescu, the discoverer of insulin.

Through clinical-pathological research, Lancereaux believed that the cause of diabetes mellitus was located in the pancreas. In 1877 he published a paper in which he coined the term diabète pancréatique. His ideas in regards to diabetes were later confirmed through experimentation by Oskar Minkowski and Josef von Mering. Lancereaux provided distinctions on the two primary forms of diabetes, which he referred to as diabetes maigre and diabetes gras.

In addition to diabetes, he also made contributions in his research of alcoholism, syphilis, infectious forms of jaundice and the transmission of typhus by water.