Jean Bernard

Who was Jean Bernard?

Jean Bernard was a French physician and haematologist. He was professor of haematology and director of the Institute for Leukaemia at the University of Paris. After graduating in medicine in Paris in 1926 he commenced his laboratory training with the bacteriologist Gaston Ramon at the Pasteur Institute in 1929.

In 1932 Bernard gave the first description of the use of high dosage radiotherapy in the treatment of Hodgkin's disease. Bernard's research has ranged from the demonstration of neoplastic nature of leukaemia to the formulation of methods of treatment. Bernard gave his name to Bernard's syndrome and Bernard-Soulier syndrome. In all, Bernard published 14 textbooks and monographs on haematology.

During the German occupation of France, Bernard was active in the French resistance.

In 1973, he became a member of the Académie Nationale de Médecine; he was elected at the Académie française on 18 March 1976.

In 1981 he was elected as a member of Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in the Department of Medical Sciences. In 1983, he was awarded the Artois-Baillet Latour Health Prize.