Jean Aicardi

Jean (François Marie) Aicardi (8 November 1926 – 3 August 2015) was a French pediatric neurologist and epileptologist. He was known as one of the most distinguished and respected neuropediatricians of his time. He, along with Alexis Arzimanoglou, created the journal Epileptic Disorders in 1999.

He obtained his M.D. degree from the Faculté de Médecine, Paris in 1955. He was a research fellow at Harvard Medical School from 1955 to 1956. Upon returning to France, he served as an assistant physician at Hôpital des Enfants Malades Paris from 1957 to 1964, and at Hôpital Saint-Vincent de Paul from 1974 to 1979. He was also Maître de Recherche from 1969 to 1986 and Directeur de Recherche from 1986 to 1991 at Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM). From 1992 to 1998, he was Honorary Professor of Child Neurology at the Institute of Child Health in London, UK.

He received many academic honours and distinctions, including:

• Ambassador for Epilepsy (International League Against Epilepsy and International Bureau for Epilepsy, 1978)
• Lifetime Achievement Award (International League Against Epilepsy and International Bureau for Epilepsy, 2009)
• Cornelia de Lange Medallion (Dutch Child Neurology Society)
• Fellow, Royal College of Physicians (London)
• Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
• Hower Award (US Child Neurology Society)
• Distinguished Investigator award (American Epilepsy Society and Milken Family Foundation), 1995
• Honorary Member American Neurological Association
• Ramon y Cajal Award (Iberoamerican Academy of Child Neurology)
• Peter Emil Becker Award (German Child Neurology Society)
• Honored Guest at the XXth Cleveland Clinic Meeting, Cleveland USA, 2002
• Honorary Member, European Paediatric Society, Göteborg, Sweden 2005