Charles Gilbert Chaddock (November 14, 1861 – July 20, 1936) was an American neurologist, psychiatrist, and translator. He is remembered for describing the Chaddock reflex and is credited with introducing the terms bisexuality, heterosexuality, and homosexuality from German into the English language.
Biography Charles Gilbert Chaddock was born on November 14, 1861, in Jonesville, Michigan. In 1885, he graduated from the University of Michigan College of Medicine and Surgery, then worked at the North Michigan Asylum in Traverse City as a staff physician. From 1889 to 1890, Chaddock studied in Munich. On his return, he again worked at the Asylum, before, in 1892, becoming Professor of Nervous and Mental Diseases at Marion-Sims College, which later became part of the Saint Louis University School of Medicine. He married Adelaide Gowans MacPherson in 1890. Baddock returned to Europe in 1897, spending most of the time as assistant to Joseph Babinski. On his return to the United States in 1899, Chaddock introduced American physicians to Babinski's sign, later publishing a translation of Babinski's work.Chaddock CG. Translation of J Babinski: tendon reflexes and bone reflexes: an authorized translation. Interstate Med J 1914;21:75-84, 178-185, 585-594, 1047-1054 Chaddock introduced his eponymous reflex in 1911, calling it the External Malleolar sign.Chaddock CG. A preliminary consideration concerning a new diagnostic nervous sign. Interstate Med J 1911;12:742-746Chaddock CG. The external malleolar sign. Interstate Med J 1911;13:1026-1038 He also described an analogous sign in the upper limb.Chaddock CG. A new reflex phenomenon in the hand: the wrist-sign. Interstate Med J 1912;19:127-131 Chaddock died on July 20, 1936. He was interred by a Protestant reverend in Oakwood Cemetery, Allegan, Michigan.
Legacy Chaddock is credited with the first use of the words heterosexuality and homosexuality in the English language, as well as the first use of the word bisexuality in its sense of being sexually attracted to both women and men, in his translation of Richard von Krafft-Ebing's Psychopathia Sexualis in 1892.Susan Ackerman, When Heroes Love: The Ambiguity of Eros in the Stories of Gilgamesh and David. Cambridge University Press, 2005, , p. 5. Prior to Von Krafft-Ebing's new use of the term, "bisexual" was usually used to refer to hermaphroditic plants, that is having both male and female reproductive structures, or to refer to mixed-sex situations such as coed schools.
References
External links
Works by or about Charles Gilbert Chaddock at the Online Books Page