Jean Delay | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 14 November 1907 Bayonne, France |
| Died | 29 May 1987 (aged 79) Paris, France |
| Education | Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital |
| Alma mater | Sorbonne |
| Known for | First studies of the effects of chlorpromazine, writing |
| Children | Florence Delay, Claude Delay |
| Awards | Commander of the Legion of Honor, Grand Officer of the National Order of Merit, and Commander of Arts and Letters |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Psychiatry, literature |
| Institutions | fr:Centre hospitalier Sainte-Anne |
Jean Delay (14 November 1907, Bayonne – 29 May 1987, Paris) was a French psychiatrist, neurologist, writer, and a member of the Académie française (Chair 17).
His assistant Pierre Deniker conducted a test of chlorpromazine on the male mental ward where Delay worked, and the two published their findings (quickly, with what has been called academic gamesmanship) in 1952.[1] Chlorpromazine turned out to be the first effective drug treatment for mental illness and it had a profound effect on the mentally ill and mental asylums.
In 1968–1970, student revolutionaries attacked his offices, and Delay was forced into retirement from medicine. In later life, he lived as a writer.
- ^ Healy, David (2002). The Creation of Psychopharmacology. Harvard University Press. p. 92. ISBN 0-674-00619-4.