Joseph Capgras

{{Short description|French psychiatrist (1873–1950)}}

{{About|the psychiatrist|the mental condition|Capgras delusion}}

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Joseph Capgras

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| birth_date = {{Birth date|1873|08|23|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Verdun-sur-Garonne, France

| death_date = {{death date and age|1950|01|27|1873|08|23|df=yes}}

| death_place = Paris, France

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| fields = Medicine
Psychiatry

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| known_for = Discovery of and research on the Capgras delusion

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Jean Marie Joseph Capgras (23 August 1873 – 27 January 1950) was a French psychiatrist who is best known for the Capgras delusion, a disorder he discovered.

He received his medical degree in Toulouse, later working in several mental institutions in France, although these duties were interrupted by the Great War. In 1929-1936, he was associated with Hôpital Sainte-Anne where he remained until his retierment.https://litfl.com/joseph-capgras/[https://books.google.com/books?id=FvQ8AAAAIAAJ&dq=%22Joseph+Capgras%22+1873+Toulouse&pg=PA168 The Clinical Roots of the Schizophrenia Concept] by John Cutting, p. 168.

With his mentor, Paul Sérieux (1864–1947), he contributed on psychiatric publications such as Les Folies raisonnantes (1909) ("The Reasoning of Follies)"{{Cite journal|last=Luauté|first=Jean-Pierre|date=2012-12-01|title=Joseph Capgras (1873–1950). Sa vie, son œuvre|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003448712003095|journal=Annales Médico-psychologiques, revue psychiatrique|language=fr|volume=170|issue=10|pages=748–756|doi=10.1016/j.amp.2012.10.001|issn=0003-4487}}) and Les Psychoses à base d'interprétations délirantes (1902) (“Psychoses Based on Delusional Interpretations”).[http://www.idref.fr/074343475 IDREF.fr] (publications) With Sérieux, he described a type of non-schizophrenic, paranoid psychosis referred to as ''Delerium of Interpretation with Serieux and Capgrashttp://psychiatrie.histoire.free.fr/pers/bio/capgras.htm

''.

Capgras delusion was described in 1923 in a study published by Capgras and his intern Jean Reboul-Lachaux, titled L'illusion des "sosies" (the illusion of doubles{{Cite journal|title=Capgras syndrome|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095547500|access-date=2020-11-24|website=Oxford Reference|doi=|language=en}}) dans un délire systématisé chronique. This disorder is defined as a delusion that a close relative or friend has been replaced by an impostor. In 1931 Capgras was appointed the president of the Société Médico-Psychologique (The Medical-Psychological Society) for his case studies and journal articles. While in this role, he was able to reunite two branches that had separated 25 years earlier.[http://www.whonamedit.com/synd.cfm/2535.html Capgras' delusion] at Who Named It