The Polish Paris in two voices of the Babinski brothers. The first was immortalised in the history of medicine, the second shaped the culinary habits of the world's greatest gourmets.

Home of the Polish physician Józef Babiński in Paris
. Professor Józef Babinski (1857-1932) was an eminent physician and scientist, as well as a lover of the arts and "a popular personality in the Paris Opera circle". What does this mean?

Rumour has it that selected male figures in paintings by Edgar Degas have his features. This would indicate that he belonged to a small circle of Parisians who, at the turn of the 20th century, knew opera artists and attended elite parties after performances. Imagine Babinski, then, walking home after one such event. Thanks to the account of his pupil, the neurologist Albert Charpentier, it will be easier for us to do so.

A stately, at first glance, gentleman with a cane in his hand. It is late at night and he is striding smoothly, not to say with a dancing step, across the Boulevard Haussmann. As the possessor of a "lyrical, powerful voice, like a fantastic tenor, Enrico Caruso", he sings, heedless of anything, the part from the Valkyrie performed by Étienne Billot, "Adieu, superbe adieu vaillante enfant" ("Farewell, brave, wonderful child"). Along the way, he passes rows of newly-built townhouses that owe their shabbiness to the originator of the redevelopment of Paris and later patron of the boulevard, Georges Haussmann.

Eclectic, usually made of grey sandstone and connected by side walls, the buildings are characterised by their symmetry and often form even sequences of storeys. Individual architects were somewhat free to decorate their facades, although the 170 bis building in front of which Babinski stops seems to exemplify ascetic thinking about architecture.

This four-storey house with a high attic was built in the Neoclassical style, and on the façade we see straight lines, no curves, and only between the first and second storeys - modest pilasters and ornaments with a ribbon element. You could say - the discreet charm of the bourgeoisie. Babinski himself seems to agree, as he looks around with dreamy eyes while waiting for the concierge. Finally, the door swings open and he ascends the wide staircase to the second floor of his seven-room flat.

Józef Babinski pioneer of neurosurgery
To realise who Józef Babinski was, it is worth looking at this figure as a peculiar cultural phenomenon.

And here - a necessary gloss. Polish medicine does not have many eponyms, i.e. terms coined from his name, which would function in international nomenclature, e.g. inflammatory bowel disease, called Crohn's disease in Poland, is Crohn's disease in other countries. Similarly with the ESR, or Biernacki reaction, which outside Poland is referred to as 'erythrocyte sedimentation rate'.

And perhaps only two terms nurture the memory of our scientists. One will be the Frey syndrome, coined in 1923 to describe a rare neurological disorder. It is named after a scientist from Lviv, Lucja Frey-Gottesman (1889-1942), who did not manage to survive the Holocaust. Later, however, the memory of her achievements and Polishness was not sufficiently promoted. Babinski's symptom, on the other hand, is an almost fundamental term in neurology. It consists of a reflex flexion of the big toe when the skin of the sole is teased, and is indicative of damage to the nervous system.

Joseph Babinski nominated for the Nobel Prize
It should also be noted that Babinski was not only the first to describe this reaction, which happened in 1896, but also did so concisely (in 28 lines of text!) and logically, thus influencing the methodology of discussing the phenomena discovered. For this discovery, as well as his other work, he was nominated three times for the Nobel Prize.

Józef Babinski - doctor of emigrants and Marcel Proust
It must be emphasised that Babinski published in French, which had international status at the time. The importance of Józef Babinski's contribution to the development of neurology is evidenced not only by his scientific works. He went down in the history of Paris as an eminent medical consultant whose patients included some of the greatest figures of the era, to name just two.

The first is Marcel Proust, who visited Babinski several times, which he wrote about in letters. The writer did not believe the doctors, but spoke respectfully of the neurologist. It is significant that it was Babinski who was called to see Proust on the day of his death, 18 November 1922. The situation was already a foregone conclusion and, as the writer's brother recalled, the medic declared that "there was nothing he could do here".

With the second patient, Dr Józef Babiński presumably spoke Polish. This was an ethnographer residing in Paris, Bronisław Piłsudski, Józef's brother. A note of this visit, which the doctor made on 24 May 1918, has survived: "I consulted Mr Bronisław Piłsudski on 16 May. I noticed a marked hypertension and depressive melancholy in him, a condition manifesting itself in irresistible suicidal impulses". The meeting preceded the patient's actual suicide by several hours.

Rue du Docteur-Babinski - the street of the Polish doctor
But can we call Babinski a Pole? The French honour his memory and today, among other places, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, we come across the 350 m long Rue du Docteur-Babinski. Note that the street was named in 1965, 33 years after Babinski's death. Unfortunately, the street's metric does not mention the Polish origin of the patron.

However, it is known that Babiński himself, the son of Aleksander, a geologist, mining engineer, January Uprising insurgent and political émigré in France, frequented Poland, including Zakopane, and in 1909 presided over a congress of neurologists in Warsaw.

Józef Babiński - one of the world's most famous neurologists
Over time, Józef Babinski's bond with the country of his ancestors grew stronger and towards the end of his life he decided to be buried in the Montmorency cemetery. As his biographers Jacques Poirier and Jacques Philippon point out, the little things seem to be the most significant: Babinski was consistent in correcting the pronunciation of his name, paying attention to the 'ñ' and the 'i' in the ending. He also followed current events on the Vistula River and passionately collected works by Polish artists (his home included a painting by Olga Boznańska).

Józef Babiński and his brother Henryk in Paris
. Babinski's older brother Henryk (1855-1931), who worked for years in South America as a mining engineer, must not be forgotten either. When he returned to Paris, he moved in with Jozef and together they led a bachelor's life.

Henry was passionate about the culinary arts and published a cookbook under the pseudonym Ali Bab. His Gastronomie pratique was very popular and was therefore reprinted and translated. Henryk Babinski not only included recipes in the book, but also made himself known as a culinary patriot, as he promoted Polish dishes and criticised Russian ones.
Even today, we can still eat lobster de Babinski in one of the popular restaurants in Paris. It would be hard to find a more delicious Polish dish.

Józef Babinski's family roots
Memory is a construct that can be both nurtured and created. The authors of the book Joseph Babinski. A Biography, in calling their hero "a French citizen cultivating Polish roots". They are right to do so, as they have reliably compiled the archives, referring to hundreds of French and English texts and only a dozen or so Polish ones. Nevertheless, during this reading we come across an error.

When talking about Dr Józef Babiński's ancestors and the paths that brought them to the Seine, the authors state that his father, Aleksander, was born in "Zwierzyniec, a suburb of Kraków". Instead, it should be "Zwierzyniec, near Zamosc". A trifle? Or perhaps an inspiration? Perhaps one of the readers of this text, after a walk along Boulevard Haussman and Rue du Docteur-Babinski, followed by a hearty dinner with lobster de Babinski, will come to the conviction that a popular Polish biography should be prepared, not only of Józef Babinski himself, but also of his brother or father.