By Marcello Cherchi, MD PhD
Prosper Ménière (Angers, France 1799 – Paris 1862) was the chief physician at the Institut National di Jeunes Sourdes in Paris, where he focused his work on diseases of the ear ([No authors] 1969; Baloh 2001; Birch 1974; Hawkins 2005; Jay 2000; Morrison 1997; Wells 1947). In 1861, the year before his death, he published two papers regarding the disease that now bears his name (Méniere 1861a, b). When he presented these papers at the French Imperial Academy of Medicine, the idea that disequilibrium could arise from inner ear disease was novel, and it was not well received (Baloh 2001).
References
[No authors] (1969) Prosper Meniere (1799-1862). JAMA 207: 1708.
Baloh RW (2001) Prosper Meniere and his disease. Arch Neurol 58: 1151-6. doi: 10.1001/archneur.58.7.1151
Birch CA (1974) Meniere’s disease. Prosper Meniere (1799-1862). Practitioner 213: 391-2.
Hawkins JE (2005) Sketches of otohistory: part 5: Prosper Meniere: physician, botanist, classicist, diarist and historian. Audiol Neurootol 10: 1-5. doi: 10.1159/000082305
Jay V (2000) Prosper Meniere. Arch Pathol Lab Med 124: 192-3. doi: 10.5858/2000-124-0192-PMR
Méniere P (1861a) Maladies de l’oreille interne offrant des symptoms de la congestion cerebral apoplectiforme. Gaz Med de Paris 16: 88.
Méniere P (1861b) Sur une forme de surdité grave dépendant d’une lésion de l’oreille interne. Bulletin de l’Adadémie Impériale de médecine 26: 241.
Morrison AW (1997) Prosper Meniere (1799-1862). A synopsis of his life and times. Ear Nose Throat J 76: 626-31.
Wells WA (1947) Dr Prosper Meniere; a historical sketch. Laryngoscope 57: 275-93.
