Hélène Sosnowska

Hélène Sosnowska
Sosnowska in Warsaw
Born	Hélène Goldspiegel 13 February 1864 Warsaw, Poland
Died	1942 Paris, France
Nationality	Polish-French
Education	University of Paris Faculty of Medicine
Medical career
Sub-specialties	Gynaecology

Hélène Goldspiegel-Sosnowska[1] (13 February 1864 – 1942) was a Polish-French physician, activist, and writer. She was an eminent gynaecologist and published a number of texts on the subject. Sosnowska advocated for temperance and vegetarianism, serving as vice-president and later president of the French Vegetarian Society.

Biography

Early life and education

Hélène Goldspiegel was born into a Jewish family in Warsaw, Poland on 13 February 1864.[2][3] In 1887, he worked at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital with Jean-Martin Charcot.[4] The following year, she defended her thesis on hysteria in children, supervised by Charcot, at the University of Paris Faculty of Medicine.[5] It was one of the first medical theses defended by a woman.[6] She spent the following year in Stockholm with Major Thure Brandt.[1]

Career

Sosnowska specialized in gynaecology.[7] She authored a number of medical texts on the subject, including those on uterine disorders.[2][7] Sosnowska also wrote about household nutrition and childcare, as well as works advocating for women, such as for the Society of Breastfeeding.[7]

Sosnowska was a founding member of the Society of Kinesitherapy.[1]

Activism

Sosnowska campaigned for temperance and vegetarianism, specializing in the practical aspects of the latter. In 1904, she joined the committee of the French Vegetarian Society and became its vice-president in 1907.[7] In 1912, she authored a book on vegetarianism, Le végétarisme en thérapeutique ("Vegetarianism in therapy").[2] She attended the International Vegetarian Union 1926 Congress in London, where she stated:[8]

that their movement was not the result of the clash of material forces, but was part of an intelligent evolutionary process. They had to recognise the close relation that existed between the physical, the emotional and the intellectual kingdoms, and that vegetarianism would not only help to quicken the intellect, but would also help them to transmute their egoism into altruism.

Sosnowska became president of the French Vegetarian Society in 1933, following Jules Grand's death.[9]

Personal life and death

Sosnowska was married to a French Jew, who worked as an engineer.[5][7]

Sosnowska died in 1942.[2] Her funeral was held at the Saint-Pierre-de-Chaillot church.[10] Her death brought an end to the activities of the French Vegetarian Society.[7]

Selected publications

• Du traitement manuel des maladies des femmes selon la méthode de Thure Brandt. 1889.
• Traitement des maladies des femmes par la méthode de Thure Brandt (observations personnelles de 1889 à 1893). 1893.
• Comment on doit nourrir les enfants. 1906.
• Le végétarisme en thérapeutique. 1912.
• Traitement non sanglant des rétro-déviations utérines, indications et contre-indications au traitement de Brandt. 1916.
• Thérapeutique gynécologique. Indications et technique de la méthode de Brandt: Contribution personnelle. 1922.
• Traitement de Thure-Brandt au point de vue analgésique. 1933.
• Les hémorragies utérines soignées par la méthode de Thure-Brandt (gymnastique décongestionnante et massage vibratoire). 1934.

References

1. "Goldspiegel Hélène". Dictionnaire des noms propres du CFDRM, la bibliothèque du massage. Lettre G (in French). Retrieved 2025-02-04.
2. "Hélène Sosnowska (1864-1942)". Data BNF (in French). Retrieved 2025-02-04.
3. Klein, Michele (2023-01-01). "Michèle Klein et Alain Chenu: Un album de photos d'une famille franco-polonaise vers 1890 : parents et amis de Caroline Szulc et Jacques Bertillon" [Michèle Klein and Alain Chenu: A photo album of a Franco-Polish family around 1890: parents and friends of Caroline Szulc and Jacques Bertillon]. Généalo-J, la revue du Cercle de Généalogie Juive.
4. "The Osler Library Newsletter" (PDF). The Osler Library Newsletter (138): 3. Summer 2023.
5. Micale, Mark S. (1990-03-01). "Hysteria and its historiography: the future perspective". History of Psychiatry. 1 (1): 33–124. doi:10.1177/0957154X9000100103. ISSN 0957-154X.
6. Barbas, Stéphane (2014-02-18). "Gloire et déclin de l'hystérie infantile au xixe siècle. Chronique illustrée:Rubrique dirigée par Eduardo Mahieu et Jacques Postel". L'information psychiatrique (in French). 90 (1): 65–77. doi:10.1684/ipe.2013.1148. ISSN 0020-0204.
7. Hondermarck, Alexandra (2024). "La construction de la cause végétarienne au prisme du genre : engagements, circulations et réseaux transnationaux entre France, Suisse, Angleterre et Belgique (années 1870-1914)" [The construction of the vegetarian cause through the prism of gender: commitments, circulations and transnational networks between France, Switzerland, England and Belgium (1870s-1914)]. Genre & histoire (in French). 34. doi:10.4000/12yks. ISSN 2102-5886.
8. "History of the French Vegetarian Societies". International Vegetarian Union. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
9. Bernard, Léo (2024). "Hygie, et la présence continue du milieu végétarien". Hippocrate initié: Courants ésotériques et holisme médical en France durant l’entre-deux-guerres [Hippocrates initiated: Esoteric currents and medical holism in France during the interwar period] (in French). Rennes: Presses universitaires de Rennes. p. 73. doi:10.4000/12mfw. ISBN 978-2-7535-9581-1.
10. "Nécrologies" [Obituaries]. L'informateur médical (in French) (807): 4. 1942-02-20 – via Internet Archive.