Charles Richet

Charles Robert Richet (25 August 1850 – 4 December 1935) was a French physiologist who initially investigated a variety of subjects such as neurochemistry, digestion, thermoregulation in homeothermic animals, and breathing. He won the Nobel Prize "in recognition of his work on anaphylaxis" in 1913. He also presided over the French Eugenic Society from 1920 to 1926.

Richet devoted many years to the study of paranormal and spiritualist phenomena, coining the term "ectoplasm".

Life

During his studies, Richet spent a period as an intern at the Salpêtrière hospital in Paris, where he observed Jean-Marie Charcot's work with hysterical patients.

In 1887 Richet was named professor of physiology at the Collège de France, and in 1898 he became a member of the Académie de Médecine. It was, however, his work with Paul Portier on anaphylaxis (his term for a sensitized individual's sometimes lethal reaction to a second, small-dose injection of an antigen) that in 1913 won him the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. This research helped elucidate hay fever, asthma and other allergic reactions to foreign substances and explained some previously not understood cases of intoxication and sudden death. In 1914 he became a member of the Académie des Sciences.