Raynaud's Awareness Month – February 2025

History of Raynaud's Awareness Month

The history of the scientific discovery of Raynaud’s can be traced to Auguste Gabriel Maurice Raynaud, the French doctor who discovered the Raynaud syndrome in the late 19th century. On August 10, 1834, Maurice Raynaud was born in Paris, France, to a university professor. With the support of his uncle, Ange-Gabriel-Maxime Vernois (1809 – 1877) — a well-known Parisien physician — he began his medical studies at the University of Paris. In the 1860s, Maurice Raynaud published his doctoral dissertation, “De l’asphyxie locale et de la gangrène symétrique des extrémités” (On Local Asphyxia and Symmetrical Gangrene of the Extremities). This dissertation made Raynaud one of the few people to earn eponymous fame, with Raynaud’s syndrome named after him. He achieved his medical doctorate in 1862.

In 1863, after the publication of his article “Asclepiades of Bithynia, doctor, and philosopher,” and the book “Medicine in Molière’s time,” Maurice Raynaud was awarded the ‘Doctorat ès Lettres’ (Doctor of Philosophy). Due to political opposition during his time, Maurice Raynaud was never promoted to a professor or offered the chair of medical history at the University of Paris, or given a senior position at any of the Paris hospitals. However, in 1865, he was awarded ‘Médecine des hôpitaux’ (received hospital privileges).

In 1866, Raynaud was awarded the ‘agrégé’ (an academic rank conferred by a French university), mainly because of his works, “Sur les hyperhémies non phlegmasiques” and “De la revulsion.” Between 1871 and 1879, he became an officer of the ‘Légion d’honneur’ and was elected to the Académie de Médecine. After years of battling a cardiac disease, Maurice Raynaud finally succumbed and died on June 29, 1881.