| Born in Austria, but of Italian descent, most of his medical training was had in Paris. He was identified early as a neuroanatomist and excelled in his studies on cerebral localization. In 1791 he began his entrance into the field of phrenology- not as scientist but as a showman and he traveled and lectured through all of Europe often encountering controversy- sometimes dangerous. But he did some purely scientific studies demonstrating that the cranial nerves issued from the medulla oblongata and not the cerebral hemisphere. He also established the belief that character traits and mental aberrations are organic, inborn, god given. |  |
 Phrenological chart |