Henri Parinaud

Henri Parinaud was the son of a locksmith. He commenced his studies of medicine at Limoges, and came to Paris in 1869. His studies were interrupted by the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war, when he worked with the Red Cross ambulances at Metz under the direction of Léon Clément le Fort (1829-1893). After the war he returned to his medical studies in Paris and was assistant under Noël-Francois-Odon Guéneau de Mussy (1813-1885), Odilon Marc Lannelongue (1840-1911), and Jean A. E. Bouchut (1818-1891). His thesis, A study on the optic nerve in meningitis of infants, attracted Charcot’s attention and he became his collaborator at the Salpêtrière.

Parinaud subsequently was for two years Chef de clinique under Xavier Galezowski (1832-1907), and later founded his own ambulatorium.

Parinaud was a founder of French ophthalmology, and although troubled throughout his life with ill health, he published extensively, especially in the general areas of stereoscopic vision and the projection of visual input in the cerebral cortex. He made many contributions on the control of eye movements and throughout his life published on various aspects of strabismus. He also wrote a number of musical works under the pseudonym of Pierre Erick. He developed bronchopneumonia and died a few weeks later.

We thank Patrick Jucker-Kupper, Switzerland, for information submitted.

• Conjunctivite lacrymale à pneumocoques des nouveau-nés.
  Annales d’Oculistique, Paris, 1894, 112, 369-373.
• La vision. Paris, 1898.
• Le strabisme et son traitement. Paris, 1899.