Étienne Eugène Azam (28 May 1822 – 16 December 1899), full name Charles-Marie-Étienne-Eugène Azam, was a French

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

from

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

who is chiefly remembered for his work in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

, particularly a case involving a female patient he named "Félida X" who seemed to have "alternating personalities", or what Azam referred to as ''doublement de la vie''. Over a number of years Azam studied Félida's psychological profile and published three reports. He described Félida as a hysterical patient who had a serious and sad (normal) state, along with a merry and generous state. He analyzed these two states as two distinct, separate personalities that seemed to be unaware of the other. The case of Félida X is one of the earliest documented descriptions of what would later be called a multiple personality disorder. At the time, this situation garnered interest in the medical community, and created several puzzling questions regarding

self-concept In the psychology of self, one's self-concept (also called self-construction, self-identity, self-perspective or self-structure) is a collection of beliefs about oneself. Generally, self-concept embodies the answer to the question ''"Who am I? ...

, as well as the definition of personal ego. Additionally from a quasi-religious context, the concept of multiple personalities was contrary to the

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

belief system of

spiritualism Spiritualism may refer to: * Spiritual church movement, a group of Spiritualist churches and denominations historically based in the African-American community * Spiritualism (beliefs), a metaphysical belief that the world is made up of at leas ...

, which had a large following in the 19th century.

Selected work

''Hypnotisme, double conscience et altérations de la personnalité : le cas Félida X,''
preface by

Jean-Martin Charcot Jean-Martin Charcot (; 29 November 1825 – 16 August 1893) was a French neurology, neurologist and professor of anatomical pathology. He worked on groundbreaking work about hypnosis and hysteria, in particular with his hysteria patient Louise A ...

, 1887 ** ''Hypnotisme, double conscience et altérations de la personnalité: le cas Félida X'' (Hypnotism,

double consciousness Double consciousness is the dual self-perception experienced by Hierarchy, subordinated or Colonization, colonized groups in an Oppression, oppressive society. The term and the idea were first published in W. E. B. Du Bois, W. E. B. Du Bois's Aut ...

, and personality changes: the case Félida X), (1887); Étienne Eugene Azam, with an introduction by Serge Nicolas.

References

* ''This article is based on a translation of an article from the French Wikipedia.''
History of Psychiatry, Pierre Janet and Félida Artificielle
1822 births 1899 deaths French psychiatrists Physicians from Bordeaux {{France-psychiatrist-stub