Lupus pernio: a tale of four characters in search of a malady.

Honfleur, an old picturesque port, sits on the southern estuary of the Seine, one of the principal rivers of France. Many artists, including Gustave Courbet, Claude Monet, John Jongkind and Eugene Boudin have immortalized its beauty, serenity, and natural elegance. The explorer Binot Paulmierde Gonneville set forth from its shores in 1503 to explore Brazil. Another navigator, Jean Denis left Honfleur in 1608 to found Newfoundland and the mouth of Saint Lawrence River. Other famous Honfleurais have included Alphonse Allais, writer and humorist: Erik Satie, musician; and Stephane Ferrand, wildlife photographer. In 1859, Baudelaire ravaged by his illnesses, long-term use of laudanum and absinthe, stress and poverty, moved to Honfleur to live with is mother. He was at peace in the seaside town where wrote Le Voyage. Ernest Besnier, one of the characters of our tale was also born in Honfleur on April 21, 1831 (Fig. 1). His father was a government official on the move. As a result, the young Besnier was schooled in different places, including Honfleur, Marseilles, and Orleans. Finally, he settled in Paris to study Medicine. He worked hard and won the first prize of the Internat des Hopitaux de Paris in 1853. He was then 22 years old. In 1867, at 32 years of age, Besnier secured his Doctor of Medicine degree and joined the Institution Saint Perrine. He stayed there for 10 years and published several epidemiological reports on the then prevalent diseases. In 1873, he was moved to the Hopital Saint Louis to occupy the Chair in Dermatology vacated by the retirement of Bazin. An intellectually honest man, Besnier worked for a quarter of a century in complete harmony with his medical colleagues and his patients. He was an outstanding teacher, had a large clinical practice, and was an able administrator and organizer. He built an annex to the hospital with complete histopathology and parasitology laboratories. He introduced the word “biopsy” to describe the techLupus pernio: a tale of four characters in search of a malady