French psychiatry and the new woman: the case of Dr Constance Pascal, 1877-1937.
This article traces the connections between the public career and private life of Constance Pascal (1877-1937), the first woman psychiatrist in France, in the social context of the Belle Epoque. Pascal, of Romanian origin, attained professional success at the cost of suppressing her personal life. Best known for her work on dementia praecox, she researched the social as well as the biological causes of mental illness. She founded one of the first 'medical-pedagogic' institutes in France. Her monograph, Chagrins d'amour et psychoses (1935) reflects her wide cultural interests. Until recently, Pascal has been neglected by historians of psychiatry and of French women's history. Her life exemplified many of the conflicts experienced by women entering hitherto all-male professions.
Gordon
Felicia
F
Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK. fmgordon@globalnet.co.uk
D019513:Feminism / Q000266:history; D005602:France; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000266:history*