musée de l'œil

Training

Jules Gonin was born in Lausanne on 10th August 1870. His father, turned printer, attended the Collège de Genève, where he was taught classical studies and then continued at the Académie de Lausanne. He married the daughter of a pharmacist from Thun in the Canton of Berne.

Jules Gonin was schooled in Lausanne and obtained his matriculation in 1888. He studied Latin, Greek and German and he was fluent in Swiss-German which he learnt during his frequent stays at his mother's family in Thun.

Jules Gonin entered the Faculty of Sciences of the Académie de Lausanne and then the newly established Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lausanne in 1890. His keen mind displayed during lectures and practical work impressed Professor Marc Dufour (1843-1910), who held the Faculty's first chair of ophthalmology, to such an extent that he asked Jules Gonin, though still a young student, to replace his only assistant who had fallen ill. The student acquitted himself with flying colours; this was the beginning of a long-lasting friendship and fruitful cooperation between the two men.

In 1894, Jules Gonin concluded his medical studies. He received an award from the University of Lausanne for his work conducted from 1891-1892 entitled "Recherche sur la métamorphose des lépidoptères" (Research on the Metamorphosis of Lepidoptera). He revealed his powers of observation and great talent as a draughtsman in his first publication; all his life he remained intensely interested in butterflies accumulating up an impressive collection.

In 1896, after an internship in pathological anatomy, he started to work as Professor Marc Dufour's titular assistant at the Ophthalmological University Services in Lausanne.

Whilst advancing his career steadily he also travelled to various ophthalmological clinics in Europe for the purpose of training - Zurich, Paris, London, Berlin, Rostock, Göttingen, Heidelberg, Vienne and Prague. He was appointed first to the position of head of clinic, then he became Professor Dufour's - his master's - private assistant and finally attending physician.

The Home for the Blind

In 1899, Jules Gonin married Hélène Roud. She was instrumental in her husband's medical and scientific career supporting him discretely but very effectively, by filing his papers which he kept misplacing absentmindedly, by writing all his letters and work, which he dictated to her, by keeping his patient's appointments and particulars up to date. In 1901, Jules Gonin was appointed attending physician at the Home of the Blind and then, in 1903, private-docent at the University of Lausanne.

In 1901, Professor Marc Dufour had been entrusted with authoring the important chapter on the disease of the retina for the Encyclopédie française d'ophtalmologie. He enrolled Gonin to help him with his bibliographic research and the writing of the text. This offered Gonin the opportunity to study, to test and to verify everything written on retinal disorders, in particular on the practical and theoretical problems in connection with the detachment of the retina. The 4th volume of the Encyclopédie française d'ophtalmologie was published in 1906 and, out of the 367 pages contributed by Dufour and Gonin on the diseases of the retina, 50 discuss the detachment of the retina.

In the following decade, Gonin published numerous articles on various subjects, such as the disorders of the optical nerve, amblyopia and amaurosis, neuro-ophthalmology, strabismus. This did not prevent him at the same time from pursuing his studies of a subject which enthralled him: the detachment of the retina.

Marc Dufour's sudden death in the summer of 1910 affected Jules Gonin profoundly. The Canton of Vaud and the University of Lausanne called on Samuel Eperon to succeed Professor Dufour, although he did not count amongst the accredited medical practitioners of the Eye Hospital of the Home of the Blind. Consequently, a new ophthalmological service was established at the Cantonal Hospital, whilst the Eye Hospital at the Home of the Blind and the polyclinic continued to operate as previously with the doctors there. Auguste Dufour, the nephew of the deceased, was promoted to the position of Physician-in-Chief. The latter and Jules Gonin, in their capacity as Privat-Docents, continued to teach at the Home of the Blind. In 1918, Dr Dufour requested the Board of Trustees of the Home to be released from his duties as Physician-in-Chief - for health reasons. As a result, Jules Gonin was appointed his successor, and then, upon the death of Prof. Samuel Eperon in 1920, Professor of Ophthalmology. It is then that the Ophthalmological University Services were repatriated to the premises of the Home of the Blind.

From 1908 to 1920, Jules Gonin applied himself to the study the pathology of retinal detachment. He analysed with the greatest of care the location of the fissure, the relation between the fissures and the vitreous as well as the adherences. In 1913 he performed the first ignipuncture on a patient who had had an accident - with good results, and then, in 1916, on a female patient who had suffered from idiopathic detachment for more than 15 years. He presented this case to the Swiss Society of Ophthalmology, asserting he was deeply convinced that the detachment of the retina was practically always associated with a fissure and that it was possible to treat this disease by closing it.

From 1919 to 1934, he published 40 works on the pathogenesis and the treatment of retinal detachment. Gonin also delivered numerous communications at various national and international congresses. Initially they were received with total indifference, but little by little his new theories won over the scientific community.

The hour of acclaim

Although Gonin's theories were finally accepted unanimously at the International Congress of Amsterdam in 1929, it was only in 1933, on the occasion of the International Congress of Madrid, that his moment of glory came with the whole world's acknowledgement. In 1934, he published his life's work: Le Décollement de la rétine : pathogénie, traitement (The detachment of the retina: pathogenesis, treatment)

These fundamental writings on the cause and treatment of retinal detachment earned him numerous distinctions. In 1929 he received the Marcel Benoist Prize, awarded to those, who in Switzerland make a contribution to medical or scientific progress. In 1933, he received the William Mackenzie Medal in Glasgow. Four days before his sudden death on 10th June 1935 from a brain haemorrhage, he received the title of doctor honoris causa from the University of Strasbourg. On 4th of September 1939, the German Society awarded him the Graefe Medal posthumously. Although his name was put forward for the Nobel Prize, he was never chosen.

In memory of this exceptional man, the University of Lausanne and the Swiss Society of Ophthalmology created a gold medal in 1937, the Gonin Medal, the most prestigious distinction in ophthalmology, which is awarded every four years to an eye doctor chosen by a college of eminent specialists on the occasion of the International Congress. On the occasion of the centenary of his birth an avenue in Lausanne was - and still is - named after him, as is the Eye Hospital which accommodates the city's Ophthalmological University Services where he worked all his life. And lastly, a club, founded in 1959 and which to this day still convenes specialists from the field of pathology and surgery of the vitreous, of the retina and of the choroid at a biennial congress, also bears his name. It is the oldest and one of the most prestigious clubs of ophthalmological specialist.

The great merit of Jules Gonin was his discovery of the cause of a serious, until then incurable eye disease - the detachment of the retina - and for having developed an effective treatment. It is a unique example in the history of medicine. Jules Gonin is a benefactor of mankind.

Training

Jules Gonin was born in Lausanne on 10th August 1870. His father, turned printer, attended the Collège de Genève, where he was taught classical studies and then continued at the Académie de Lausanne. He married the daughter of a pharmacist from Thun in the Canton of Berne.

Jules Gonin was schooled in Lausanne and obtained his matriculation in 1888. He studied Latin, Greek and German and he was fluent in Swiss-German which he learnt during his frequent stays at his mother's family in Thun.

Jules Gonin entered the Faculty of Sciences of the Académie de Lausanne and then the newly established Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lausanne in 1890. His keen mind displayed during lectures and practical work impressed Professor Marc Dufour (1843-1910), who held the Faculty's first chair of ophthalmology, to such an extent that he asked Jules Gonin, though still a young student, to replace his only assistant who had fallen ill. The student acquitted himself with flying colours; this was the beginning of a long-lasting friendship and fruitful cooperation between the two men.

In 1894, Jules Gonin concluded his medical studies. He received an award from the University of Lausanne for his work conducted from 1891-1892 entitled "Recherche sur la métamorphose des lépidoptères" (Research on the Metamorphosis of Lepidoptera). He revealed his powers of observation and great talent as a draughtsman in his first publication; all his life he remained intensely interested in butterflies accumulating up an impressive collection.

In 1896, after an internship in pathological anatomy, he started to work as Professor Marc Dufour's titular assistant at the Ophthalmological University Services in Lausanne.

Whilst advancing his career steadily he also travelled to various ophthalmological clinics in Europe for the purpose of training - Zurich, Paris, London, Berlin, Rostock, Göttingen, Heidelberg, Vienne and Prague. He was appointed first to the position of head of clinic, then he became Professor Dufour's - his master's - private assistant and finally attending physician.

The Home for the Blind

In 1899, Jules Gonin married Hélène Roud. She was instrumental in her husband's medical and scientific career supporting him discretely but very effectively, by filing his papers which he kept misplacing absentmindedly, by writing all his letters and work, which he dictated to her, by keeping his patient's appointments and particulars up to date. In 1901, Jules Gonin was appointed attending physician at the Home of the Blind and then, in 1903, private-docent at the University of Lausanne.

In 1901, Professor Marc Dufour had been entrusted with authoring the important chapter on the disease of the retina for the Encyclopédie française d'ophtalmologie. He enrolled Gonin to help him with his bibliographic research and the writing of the text. This offered Gonin the opportunity to study, to test and to verify everything written on retinal disorders, in particular on the practical and theoretical problems in connection with the detachment of the retina. The 4th volume of the Encyclopédie française d'ophtalmologie was published in 1906 and, out of the 367 pages contributed by Dufour and Gonin on the diseases of the retina, 50 discuss the detachment of the retina.

In the following decade, Gonin published numerous articles on various subjects, such as the disorders of the optical nerve, amblyopia and amaurosis, neuro-ophthalmology, strabismus. This did not prevent him at the same time from pursuing his studies of a subject which enthralled him: the detachment of the retina.

Marc Dufour's sudden death in the summer of 1910 affected Jules Gonin profoundly. The Canton of Vaud and the University of Lausanne called on Samuel Eperon to succeed Professor Dufour, although he did not count amongst the accredited medical practitioners of the Eye Hospital of the Home of the Blind. Consequently, a new ophthalmological service was established at the Cantonal Hospital, whilst the Eye Hospital at the Home of the Blind and the polyclinic continued to operate as previously with the doctors there. Auguste Dufour, the nephew of the deceased, was promoted to the position of Physician-in-Chief. The latter and Jules Gonin, in their capacity as Privat-Docents, continued to teach at the Home of the Blind. In 1918, Dr Dufour requested the Board of Trustees of the Home to be released from his duties as Physician-in-Chief - for health reasons. As a result, Jules Gonin was appointed his successor, and then, upon the death of Prof. Samuel Eperon in 1920, Professor of Ophthalmology. It is then that the Ophthalmological University Services were repatriated to the premises of the Home of the Blind.

From 1908 to 1920, Jules Gonin applied himself to the study the pathology of retinal detachment. He analysed with the greatest of care the location of the fissure, the relation between the fissures and the vitreous as well as the adherences. In 1913 he performed the first ignipuncture on a patient who had had an accident - with good results, and then, in 1916, on a female patient who had suffered from idiopathic detachment for more than 15 years. He presented this case to the Swiss Society of Ophthalmology, asserting he was deeply convinced that the detachment of the retina was practically always associated with a fissure and that it was possible to treat this disease by closing it.

From 1919 to 1934, he published 40 works on the pathogenesis and the treatment of retinal detachment. Gonin also delivered numerous communications at various national and international congresses. Initially they were received with total indifference, but little by little his new theories won over the scientific community.

The hour of acclaim

Although Gonin's theories were finally accepted unanimously at the International Congress of Amsterdam in 1929, it was only in 1933, on the occasion of the International Congress of Madrid, that his moment of glory came with the whole world's acknowledgement. In 1934, he published his life's work: Le Décollement de la rétine : pathogénie, traitement (The detachment of the retina: pathogenesis, treatment)

These fundamental writings on the cause and treatment of retinal detachment earned him numerous distinctions. In 1929 he received the Marcel Benoist Prize, awarded to those, who in Switzerland make a contribution to medical or scientific progress. In 1933, he received the William Mackenzie Medal in Glasgow. Four days before his sudden death on 10th June 1935 from a brain haemorrhage, he received the title of doctor honoris causa from the University of Strasbourg. On 4th of September 1939, the German Society awarded him the Graefe Medal posthumously. Although his name was put forward for the Nobel Prize, he was never chosen.

In memory of this exceptional man, the University of Lausanne and the Swiss Society of Ophthalmology created a gold medal in 1937, the Gonin Medal, the most prestigious distinction in ophthalmology, which is awarded every four years to an eye doctor chosen by a college of eminent specialists on the occasion of the International Congress. On the occasion of the centenary of his birth an avenue in Lausanne was - and still is - named after him, as is the Eye Hospital which accommodates the city's Ophthalmological University Services where he worked all his life. And lastly, a club, founded in 1959 and which to this day still convenes specialists from the field of pathology and surgery of the vitreous, of the retina and of the choroid at a biennial congress, also bears his name. It is the oldest and one of the most prestigious clubs of ophthalmological specialist.

The great merit of Jules Gonin was his discovery of the cause of a serious, until then incurable eye disease - the detachment of the retina - and for having developed an effective treatment. It is a unique example in the history of medicine. Jules Gonin is a benefactor of mankind.

Jules Gonin opérant à Lausanne, vers 1930

Jules Gonin operating

Lausanne around 1930

From left to right: Dr O. Dufour, Prof J. Gonin, Dr N. Chomé-Bercioux