Marcel Lermoyez

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Marcel Lermoyez (July 24, 1858 - February 1, 1929) was a French otolaryngologist and surgeon who was a native of Cambrai. In 1886 he received his doctorate in Paris, and in 1891 became Médecin des Hôpitaux. In 1892 he traveled to Vienna to study with famed otologist Adam Politzer (1835-1920). During this period of time, Lermoyez decided to specialize in otorhinolaryngology. In 1896 he established a private clinic in Paris, and in 1898 was appointed to the Hôpital Saint-Antoine where he established an otolaryngology facility. In 1910 he became only the second otologist to be elected to the Academy of Medicine; the first being Prosper Ménière (1799-1862).

Marcel Lermoyez is credited for establishing otolaryngology as a specialized medical field in France. He made important contributions in the research of diseases such as tuberculosis of the ear, otosclerosis, and otogenous meningitis.

In 1892 he founded the journal Annales des Maladies des Oreilles et du Larynx, and in 1894 he published Rhinologie, otologie, laryngologie: Enseignement et pratique de la Faculté de Médecine de Vienne, which was a result of his experiences in Vienna, and was an important work in the founding of the "French School of Otolaryngology". After the death of his son in 1923, Lermoyez became completely withdrawn, and remained depressed until his death in 1929.

Associated eponym:
Lermoyez's syndrome: Tinnitis and loss of hearing prior to an attack of vertigo, after which hearing improves. It is considered a variant of Ménière’s disease.