Louis Casamajor (1881-1962), an influential neurologist from New York

For more than four decades, Louis Casamajor (1881-1962) was one of the most active specialists in neurology and psychiatry in New York City and the United Sates. He was born in Brooklyn to a family of French-Cuban origin, and worked throughout his career in connection with Columbia University and the Neurological Institute of New York. Casamajor, a neurologist and psychiatrist who trained in Europe as a neuropathologist under Otto Marburg and Alois Alzheimer, was one of the founders of American paediatric neurology; despite this background, he has largely been overlooked in history. In the United States, he was a pioneer in the description of manganese poisoning, compressive myelopathy of vertebral origin, and Guillain-Barré syndrome. He also introduced the Wassermann test and was one of the first supporters of psychoanalysis. Casamajor had a special interest in the development of electroencephalography and pneumoencephalography in children. He was sociable and a prolific writer, a member of many societies, and one of the founders and directors of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

Columbia University, Louis Casamajor, Neurological Institute of New York, neurologist, neuropathologist, paediatric neurologist, psychiatrist