| Joseph Capgras | |
| Birth Date: | 23 August 1873 |
| Birth Place: | Verdun-sur-Garonne, France |
| Death Place: | Paris, France |
| Fields: | Medicine Psychiatry |
| Known For: | Discovery of and research on the Capgras delusion |
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.[1] [2]
With his mentor, Paul Sérieux (1864–1947), he contributed on psychiatric publications such as Les Folies raisonnantes (1909) ("The Reasoning of Follies)"[3]) and Les Psychoses à base d'interprétations délirantes (1902) (“Psychoses Based on Delusional Interpretations”).[4] With Sérieux, he described a type of non-schizophrenic, paranoid psychosis referred to as Delerium of Interpretation with Serieux and Capgras[5] .
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[6] ) dans un délire systématisé chronique. This disorder is defined as a delusion that a close relative or friend has been replaced by an impostor.[7]