Charcot demonstrating a hysterical case at la Salpetriere. Engraving based on an oil painting by Pierre-Andr矇 Brouillet, 1887. Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893) was a French neurologist who has been called "the father of French neurology." He believed that hysteria was the result of a weak neurological system which was hereditary. It could be set off by a traumatic event like an accident, but was then progressive and irreversible. To study the hysterics under his care, he learned the technique of hypnosis and soon became a master of the relatively new "science." Charcot believed that a hypnotized state was very similar to a bout of hysteria, and so he hypnotized his patients in order to induce and study their symptoms.