Jacques Joseph Grancher

GRANCHER, Jacques Joseph (1843–1907), French pediatrician; intern in 1867, then head of the histological laboratory at the anatomical theater (1867–78), where he wrote several works on the anatomical unity of tuberculosis, on the curability of tuberculosis, etc. He devoted the greater part of his life to the study of the latter and the fight against it. On the question of the unity of tuberculous processes, Grancher was a follower of Laennec, but in contrast to him, he proved that the human organism, with the help of its cellular reactions, has a tendency toward the spontaneous healing of tubercles.

In his book Maladies de l'appareil respiratoire (Paris, 1890), Grancher describes the early signs of pulmonary tuberculosis. He was the first to describe the symptoms of splenopneumonia. Being a student of Pasteur, he worked with him on vaccinations against rabies. From 1885, Grancher was a professor at the children's clinic and established the teaching of medicine, hospital antisepsis, and individual isolation of the child at the Hôpital des Enfants-Malades in a scientific manner. Together with Martin (M. Martin), he made the first attempts at tuberculosis vaccination. Together with Comby and Marfan, he took part in the publication of Traité des maladies de l'enfance (v. I–V, Paris, 1904–05), founded the journal Archives de médecine des enfants (Paris, since 1898), and finally, his favorite creation: Oeuvre de préservation de l'enfance contre la tuberculose, an organization built on the early removal of the child from a tuberculous environment.

The most important works of Grancher, in addition to the aforementioned book, are: De l'unité de la phtisie (Paris, 1873); De la médication tonique (Paris, 1875); Prophylaxie de la tuberculose (Paris, 1898).