It is perhaps a reflection of the great pace of medical advance in the 19th and early 20th century that Charcot, Gowers, Foix, Parkes Weber, and others had so many diseases to commemorate their names. Much has been written about the merits and drawbacks of eponyms¹ but the habit lingers. For assiduous collators, one of the most impressive lists attributed to a single individual is associated with Pierre Marie.

Pierre Marie was born of a wealthy Parisian family. He attended a boarding school in Vauves. Under coercion from his father he read law before deciding on a medical career. He became an intern in 1878 and under the spell of Charcot soon developed an interest in nervous diseases at the Salpêtrière and Bicêtre. An outstanding student, he worked as special clinical assistant. In 1883 he received his doctorate with a dissertation on Basedow’s disease,† which included his observations on static tremor …