Le livret militaire, le dossier étudiant et la carrière médicale de Lacan

Objectives

After having studied the conditions of Lacan's doctoral dissertation in a previous article, I turn to uncovering his academic studies and his medical career to place it in its context.

Materials and methods

Search for references to the thesis of Lacan, confrontation of historical data, textual analysis and commentary. I first reread Lacan to pick out biographical references that might be judicious in the context of this study. I then carried out a literature review. This is not enough to establish a detailed chronology of the facts. After that, I visited a number of libraries and other archive sites. I collected material data: Lacan's unpublished student file; his unpublished administrative service records; the military recruitment register where he appears; his military record, some rare, unused, or unpublished photos of Lacan as a student; various little-known elements about his various lodgings during this period. I examined these different documents and compared them with other sources and various information in order to clarify his professional career in medicine.

Results

I found several medical internships Lacan completed before psychiatry. From March 1921 to February 1922, he did a one-year internship in Paul Hallopeau's surgical department at Trousseau hospital. From March 1922 to October 1922, he did a seven-month internship in the dermatology department of Edouard Jeanselme at Saint-Louis hospital. From October 1922 to February 1923, he did a five-month internship in the childhood illnesses department of Edmond Lesné at Trousseau hospital. From March 1923 to February 29, 1924, he did a one-year internship in Paul Ribierre's cardiology department at Necker hospital. From June 1924 to February 1925, he did a nine-month internship under Marie-Paul Claisse's supervision at Laënnec hospital. From March 1925 to October 1925, he did an internship of approximately seven and a half months in the Lenormand department at Saint-Louis hospital. From October 1925 to February 1926, he did an internship of approximately four and a half months in the neurology department of Georges Guillain at Salpêtrière hospital. From March 1926 to January 1927, he did an internship of approximately ten and a half months in Octave Crouzon's neurology department of the Salpêtrière. This journey highlights an aspect of Lacan that is not ignored, unrecognized, or underestimated but on the contrary appears with the clarity of evidence as soon as it is said: a portrait of Lacan as a worker with children. Indeed, his first job, from November 1932 until October 1933, was in a child neuropsychiatry clinic. It is enough to briefly recall some milestones of his later work to see that this area of childhood is significant and that Lacan's contribution is substantial. And although Lacan certainly did not have a university hospital career in the strict sense, since he left the hospital environment after May 1934, we have established that he nevertheless returned to work in a hospital for a time. In July1940, he was mobilized as an auxiliary doctor in the neuropsychiatry department of the Val de Grace military hospital. From at least July 1941 to 1949, he took a position as a psychiatric hospital doctor at the outpatient clinic at the Sainte-Anne psychiatric hospital.

Discussion

We take this opportunity to discuss the notion of specialization in psychoanalysis.

Conclusion

At last, everyone will now be able to refer to a guaranteed although still incomplete chronology of Lacan's life between 1919 et 1949 within the medical institution. Each new element brings its share of questions. There are still many unknowns in Lacan's life which undoubtedly deserve to be explored and opened up.