Unchainer of the Insane

I ordered the book "Philippe Pinel Unchainer of the Insane" by Bernard Mackler (1968) just to read the references to my ggggrandfather's brothers and sisters - I have to get information from wherever I can - and I ended up enjoying the reading, specially the following passage:

"...Present day psychiatry can look proudly at his view of moral treatment for, in many ways, his ideas are finally being put into use. Pinel tried to abandon the inhumanity of his time..."

"...We no longer need to break the chains of mental patients, thanks to Pinel and others, but we still must learn how to care for one another. Pinel left a rich heritage in his idea of moral treatment for it applies both to abnormal and to normal behavior... "

Tree Updates

This week I found new information on Barthelemi Pinel and Marie Scribe (Escribe). They moved from Saint-Paul-Cap-de-Joux to Damiatte (just across the river Agout), France, where records from the Tarn Archives shows more children:

Charles Pinel (brother of gggggrandfather-6 generation), married and buried in the Eglise Saint-Martin of Damiatte. He was married to Margueritte Ribayran on Feb 13, 1760 and had five children baptized at the church, they were:
               Marie - 12/26/1760
               Jean - 12/6/1762
               Anne -11/28/1765
               Marie (again, so assume the first one died early) - 6/14/1767
               Jean (again, so assume the first one died early) - 9/4/1769

Anne Pinel (sister of gggggrandfather-6 generation, born in Saint-Paul-Cap-de-Joux), married to Jean Louis Ribayran also on Feb 13,1760

Hippolite Pinel (sister of gggggrandfather-6 generation, born in Saint-Paul-Cap-de-Joux) - died March 4, 1791 buried at the Cemetiere de la Eglise Saint-Martin, married to Jean Durand on Feb 19, 1737

That's it, more branches for my family tree! Now adding the surnames Ribayran and Durand and when my eyes rests I will return to the archives to see what else I find.

Source: Compiled from information found in the web: http://archives.tarn.fr and other locations.

Ruminations from the Web

Searching the web for clues regarding my family has made me (sometimes) wander aimlessly from page to page but also leads me to interesting facts that may not be direct related to me but still worth saving, like this one:

Paul Langevin - 4th cousin once removed

Paul Langevin, the second son of  Victor Langevin and ?(mother - have not found a name yet), great-grandniece of the Philippe Pinel (for now I am adding this branch under Jean-Pierre Pinel) was a physicist and supervised by Pierre Curie.

Now the interesting tidbit from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Curie;

"...In 1911, it was revealed that during 1910–11 Marie Curie had conducted an affair of about a year's duration with physicist Paul Langevin, a former student of Pierre Curie. He was a married man who was estranged from his wife. This resulted in a press scandal that was exploited by her academic opponents... Despite her fame as a scientist working for France,... She was five years older than Langevin and was portrayed in the tabloids as a home-wrecker. Later, Curie's granddaughter, Hélène Joliot, married Langevin's grandson, Michel Langevin."

The things you find in the internet!

Genealogy is like searching the web

Genealogy is like searching the web, you move around from page to page and suddenly you realize how far you are from your original search. Interesting things to be found but should you continue into that path?

Example:
I have found more information on my ancestors, more precisely the parents of Jeanne-Francoise Vincent (wife of Philippe Pinel). They are Jean Vincent and Francoise Gindre (gggggrandparents-6 generation),of Gevingey, France. Now I have four top branches; Pinel, Dupuis, Vincent and Gindre.

How much research time should I spent on each?

Genealogy Brick Wall - What to do?

I have moved on past Philippe Pinel (1745-1826) and added his parents Philippe Francois Pinel (1719-?) and Elisabeth Dupuy (?-1757) and his grandparents Barthelemi Pinel (about 1690) and Marie Scribe (about 1700). After that I can't find any connections to other Pinels I found for the same period.

I have sent some inquires and although the Pinel Family of France is very helpful, I so far have found no matches.

Charles Pinel

Today I am moving on to the next generation: Charles Pinel

French naturalist born in Paris,1802. Son of the famous psychiatrist Philippe Pinel (therefore he is my great-great grandfather).

After graduation, he began writing plays and political articles. He was arrested for his ideas in opposition to the royalist regime (oops, it must be a family trait). It was time to move on, so he decided to make a trip to Brazil, arriving in 1834.

Married in abril 24, 1835 to Marie Catherine RIME, of Charmey.

He wrote several books, including "un Mémoire on Brazil to serve as a guide to those wishing to settle there. He lived in Nova Friburgo, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. There he developed a passion for botany and culture of orchids. He also gave his name to several specimens and acquired an international reputation.

Charles died in July 18, 1871.

Source: Compiled from information published in various sources, including but not limited to the website “Pinellistique” (http://www.pinel.org) and the book by Lucy Lupia Pinel Balthazar

Philippe Pinel

First ancestor that I found so far.

Philippe Pinel 
ggggrandfather, 5 generations

Famous french doctor, born on 20 April 1745, at Schloss Rascas, commune of Saint-André (Tarn), died in Paris on 26 October 1826. Son and grandson of doctors, he was admitted to the doctorate at Toulouse in 1773. He started by giving lessons in mathematics and translated several scientific works in English to French. Finally he applies himself to the study of insanity since 1784.

Pinel had opposed the ideas of the time wanting to reform the barbaric methods used to treatment of the insane. He removed the chains of all sick and got great results in replacing treatment with gentleness and kindness.

Removing the chains

His Traité médico-philosophique sur l'aliénation mentale was the starting point for all work performed thereafter in this area.

Author: Pinel, Philippe, 1745-1826

Subject: Psychiatry -- Early works to 1900; Psychiatry -- France

Publisher: Paris, J.A. Brosson

Philippe Pinel was regarded as a humanist, humble and generous. He died without fortune (my luck!) but is still remembered as the father of modern psychiatry.

In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a large psychiatric hospital has been named Pinel Institute in honor of the famous french psychiatrist.

Hospital Pinel, Botafogo, RJ, Brasil

Philippe Pinel was even better known in Brazil that one of his son, Charles, who emigrated to this country and left numerous offspring.

Including me.

Source: Compiled from information published in various sources, including the website “Pinellistique” (http://www.pinel.org) and the book by Lucy Lupia Pinel Balthazar