Who was Jerome Lejeune?

Have you heard of Jerome Lejeune?  I had not heard of him before I started learning about Down Syndrome. He was a fascinating man who identified what makes our children so special.  Read on if you would like to learn more about the man who began to unravel the chromosome mystery associated with Down Syndrome.

About Jérôme Lejeune

Jérôme Lejeune was born in 1926 in Montrouge, near Paris. He studied medicine and became a researcher at theNational Center of Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris in 1952. Dr. Lejeune was also the founder of the first specialized clinic for Trisomy 21 patients at Necker Children’s Hospital in Paris.

In July 1958, as he was studying chromosomes linked to Down syndrome, he discovered the existence of an additional chromosome on the 21st pair. With this remarkable and ground-breaking discovery, he renamed the condition trisomy 21 to accurately describe the genetic abnormality. For the first time Dr. Lejeune had established a link between an intellectual disability and its genetic cause. Dr. Lejeune would go on to discover the genetic cause of cri-du-chat syndrome and to also advance understanding of fragile X syndrome and others.

In recognition of his discovery, in 1964 Jérôme Lejeune was named the first Professor of Fundamental Genetics at the Faculty of Medicine of Paris. While increasing his research he continued to remain available to families, caring for disabled children, and to travel the world giving thousands of lectures on genetics. As a well-known geneticist, he was called to the United States to testify in court in Davis v. Davis, the Tennessee Frozen Embryo Case,in  Maryville, Tennessee in 1989.

Jérôme Lejeune received numerous awards and was a elected as a member of several academies. In 1962 he was honored in Washington, D.C. by President John F. Kennedy with the first Kennedy Prize for his research into genetic intellectual disability and for finding the genetic cause of Down syndrome. In 1969 he received the William Allen Award from the American Society of Human Genetics – the highest award possible for a geneticist.

Jérôme Lejeune died April 3, 1994, shortly after being appointed by Pope John Paul II to serve as the first president of the Pontifical Academy for Life.

Each year on the anniversary of his passing, a Mass is held in a large parish of Paris. The testimony of his life continued to inspire the work of doctors and researchers.

For more information of Jérôme Lejeune, please visit JeromeLejeune.org. There is also a charming biography written of Jérôme Lejeune by his daughter, Clara Lejeune Gaymard, called Life is a Blessing.

Be gentle.