Joseph Capgras

This article is about the psychiatrist. For the mental condition, see Capgras delusion.
Joseph Capgras
Born(1873-08-23)23 August 1873
Verdun-sur-Garonne, France
Died27 January 1950(1950-01-27) (aged 76)
Paris, France
Known forDiscovery of and research on the Capgras delusion
Scientific career
FieldsMedicine
Psychiatry

Jean Marie Joseph Capgras (23 August 1873 – 27 January 1950) was a French psychiatrist who is best known for the Capgras delusion, a disorder he discovered.

He received his medical degree in Toulouse, later working in several mental institutions in France, although these duties were interrupted by the Great War. In 1929-1936, he was associated with Hôpital Sainte-Anne where he remained until his retierment.[1][2]

With his mentor, Paul Sérieux (1864–1947), he contributed on psychiatric publications such as Les Folies raisonnantes (1909) ("The Reasoning of Follies)"[3]) and Les Psychoses à base d'interprétations délirantes (1902) (“Psychoses Based on Delusional Interpretations”).[4] With Sérieux, he described a type of non-schizophrenic, paranoid psychosis referred to as Delerium of Interpretation with Serieux and Capgras[5].

Capgras delusion was described in 1923 in a study published by Capgras and his intern Jean Reboul-Lachaux, titled L'illusion des "sosies" (the illusion of doubles[6]) dans un délire systématisé chronique. This disorder is defined as a delusion that a close relative or friend has been replaced by an impostor.[7]

  1. ^ https://litfl.com/joseph-capgras/
  2. ^ The Clinical Roots of the Schizophrenia Concept by John Cutting, p. 168.
  3. ^ Luauté, Jean-Pierre (2012-12-01). "Joseph Capgras (1873–1950). Sa vie, son œuvre". Annales Médico-psychologiques, revue psychiatrique (in French). 170 (10): 748–756. doi:10.1016/j.amp.2012.10.001. ISSN 0003-4487.
  4. ^ IDREF.fr (publications)
  5. ^ http://psychiatrie.histoire.free.fr/pers/bio/capgras.htm
  6. ^ "Capgras syndrome". Oxford Reference. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
  7. ^ Capgras' delusion at Who Named It