Jérôme Lejeune

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Jérôme Lejeune

Jérôme Jean Louis Marie Lejeune (born June 13, 1926 in Montrouge , † April 3, 1994 in Paris ) was a French pediatrician and geneticist .

In 1963 he was the first to describe the cat-cry syndrome from a scientific point of view and named it after the cat-like cry ( cri-du-chat ) of the affected children in early childhood. The syndrome is therefore also known as "Lejeune syndrome".

In 1959, Lejeune described the discovery of the genetic cause of Down syndrome . He described the connection between the tripling of a chromosome ( trisomy ) and Down's syndrome. In 2009 Marthe Gautier claimed the discovery of the trisomy and the basic laboratory work for herself.

In addition to his scientific work, he continued to practice as a pediatrician. Jérôme Lejeune was a long time member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. He campaigned for the right to life of disabled children. It was precisely because of this commitment to the prenatal selection and abortion of genetically ill children that Lejeune exposed himself to severe criticism during his lifetime. He himself therefore considered it tragic that he in particular had provided the possibility of prenatal diagnostics.

In 1969 Lejeune was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . He was awarded the William Allan Award in 1969 and an international Antonio Feltrinelli Prize in 1984. In 1973 he received an honorary doctorate from the medical faculty of the University of Düsseldorf. He was a personal friend of Pope John Paul II , who accepted him into the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and made him president of the newly established Pontifical Academy for Life . Shortly afterwards, however, Lejeune died of cancer.

Pope John Paul visited Lejeune's tomb on his trip to France and spoke out in favor of his beatification. The Abbey of Saint-Wandrille has postulated the opening of the beatification process , meanwhile Lejeune has been elevated to the venerable Servant of God .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ J. Lejeune, M. Gautier, R. Turpin: Les chromosomes humains en culture de tissus. In: Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences. 248 (4), Jan 26, 1959, pp. 602-603.
  2. ^ M. Gautier: Cinquantenaire de la trisomie 21. Retour sur une découverte. In: Med Sci (Paris). 25 (3), 2009, pp. 311-315.
  3. ^ American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Book of Members. (PDF) . Retrieved April 18, 2016.
personal data
SURNAME Lejeune, Jérôme
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lejeune, Jérôme Jean Louis Marie (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French medic
DATE OF BIRTH June 13, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Montrouge
DATE OF DEATH April 3, 1994
Place of death Paris