La mémoire : une clé de voûte dans l'œuvre de Jean Delay

Known worldwide as the discover of neuroleptics, Jean Delay (1907-1987) dedicaded an important part of his work to memory. First his medical thesis entitled astereognosies is focused on the touch disorders. This work has been followed by a thesis of philosophy under the leadership of Pierre Janet, about memory disorders. Jean Delay proposed a classification of neurological and psychiatric memory disorders taking heed to Maurice Halbwachs' work on collective memory. And the end of his life, as a writer, Jean Delay led an ambitious project. Thanks to his researches in French national Archives, he published in four volumes the history of his maternal ancestors from XVIth to XIXth century. This work has several connections with two of Marguerite Yourcenar's books: Dear Departed: A Memoir and How Many Years: A Memoir. Jean Delay supported the election of Marguerite Yourcenar at L'Académie française, the first woman to be elected at the prestigious French institution. Psychological traits of Jean Delay are also drawn in this paper.