Dr. Jacques-Séverin ABBATUCCI was born in Corsica in 1923. He studied medicine in Marseille, then completed his medical internship in Paris at the Rothschild Hospital. In 1951 and 1952, he worked on lymphomas at the Memorial Hospital in New York.
On his return to France, he took up his post at the Rothschild Hospital and met Dr. Tubiana at the Gustave Roussy Institute in Villejuif, who invited him to take part in research with Bernard Pierquin,
Jean Dutreix, Daniel Chassagne and Claude Lalanne on the study of iodine metabolism in rat thyroid tissue. This became the subject of his thesis, defended in 1954, entitled "Methods for diagnosing and selecting thyroid cancers that can be treated with radioactive iodine".
He then became a resident in the radiotherapy department of the IGR, where he was greatly influenced by his meeting with Professor Pierre Denoix, who was at the origin of specialized committees for each neoplastic site, defending the notion of multidisciplinarity and a unique file for each patient.
At the end of his residency, he met Professor Jacob, Director of the Caen Cancer Center, who offered him an assistant post. He settled in Caen, where he practiced radiotherapy and published and edited numerous books, some of which have been translated into English, German and Brazilian:
- "Techniques de télécobalthérapie radicale" in the "Annales de radiologie" monograph collection, with a preface by Professor Tubiana (1968, republished in 1972).
- "Les Techniques de radiothérapie (photons-electrons)" (Radiotherapy techniques (photons-electrons)), which was a reference for many years, particularly for the simulator (1981).
- "Manual of Oncology (1988)
He directed the Centre François Baclesse from 1970 to 1988, and was appointed Associate Professor of Radiology with a specialization in oncology by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in 1976.
In the field of clinical research, he took part in the creation of the EORTC with Professors Tubiana, Mathé and a number of other European contributors.
In France, the federation of centers has set up a clinical research commission similar to the EORTC, in which the Centre François Baclesse has led research groups on osteosarcoma and melanoma.
His passion for innovation naturally led him to invest early in the field of information technology, enabling the Centre François Baclesse to be one of the first to computerize a shared medical record.
But above all, he was a man of reflection, and his questioning of the meaning of life guided him to the end.
Biography summary
- Born in Bastia (Corsica) on February 22, 1923,
- Auxiliary physician to the 1st French Army "Rhine and Danube" 1943-45 (African, Alsatian and German campaigns),
- Medical studies begun in Marseille, then at the Faculty of Paris. Hospitals intern, then intern at Rothschild Hospital (Paris)
- Physician at Memorial Sloan Kettering Institute (New York) from 1951-52,
- Resident physician at the Institut Gustave Roussy (Villejuif) from 1953 to 1956,
- Assistant radiotherapy physician at the Caen Cancer Centre in late 1956,
→ Head of Department in 1963
→ Acting Director in 1969
→ Director by ministerial order of June 10, 1970 - Teaching at Caen Medical School
→ Medical physics, with Prof. Dutreix from 1966 to 1969
→ Oncology, from 1969 (Associate Professor) - Appointed Associate Professor of Radiology with a specialization in oncology by French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in 1976,
- Director, Centre François Baclesse (Caen) 1970-88,
- Founding member of EORTC (European Organization for Research in Cancer Therapy),
- Married, 5 children,
- Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur,
- Mayor of Mathieu (Calvados) from 1995 to 2001,
- Died aged 97 in Ellon (Calvados), on March 17, 2020.
Member of learned societies
National
- Chairman of the Radiotherapy Section of the French Radiology Society (SFR)
- Vice-President of the French Society for Nuclear Studies
- President, Société de Radiologie de l'Ouest (SERMO)
- Member of the French Cancer Society (SFC)
International
- Founding member of EORTC (European Organization for Research in Cancer Therapy), - Chairman of the Radiochemotherapy Group
- Chairman of the EORTC Protocol Review Committee
- Member of the Memorial Hospital Alumni Society New-York City
His decisive encounters with...
Prof. Maurice Tubiana
... at the Institut Gustave Roussy (Villejuif), where he was invited to take part in research with Bernard Pierquin, Jean Dutreix, Daniel Chassagne and Claude Lalanne on the study of iodine metabolism in thyroid tissue in rats. This became the subject of his thesis in 1954, entitled "Méthodes de diagnostics et de sélection des cancers thyroïdiens susceptibles d'être traités par l'iode radioactif".
Prof. Pierre Denoix
... still at the IGR, which was at the origin of specialized committees for each neoplastic site, defending the notion of multidisciplinarity and a single file for each patient.
Dr Pierre Jacob
... Director of the C.A.C de Caen, who recruits him in Caen, as a full-time assistant physician.
A humanist and a visionary
"In the course of his long medical career, he has acquired, in addition to his medical, scientific and human experience, a particular knowledge of teamwork. He is convinced that the group's effectiveness depends on psychological as well as material factors. In the union, each individual can develop his or her personality to the benefit of all, and the whole acquires its own spirit.
Those who knew him well in Caen remember him as a man of great modernity and lofty vision.
At the Centre, we owe him...
- The development of the Center's activity and the implementation of a policy of recruiting young specialist doctors to ensure its growth,
- The Center's national and international reputation,
- Construction of the Center on Caen's northern plateau in 1973, and its inauguration by Simone VEIL as
"Centre François Baclesse" in 1975, - Medical organization based on multidisciplinary committees (which would become mandatory in oncology, 30 years later...),
- A policy of welcoming patients and providing them with comprehensive care, with the creation of support services as early as 1975: social services, dietetics, speech therapy, mobile palliative care and pain team...
- The development of diagnostic and treatment techniques,
- The installation of the 1st Corps-entier Scanner in Basse-Normandie in 1981, thanks to the help of the Anciens de la 2e DB and the Maréchale Leclerc,
- A policy of opening up the Center to outside professionals and the general public,
- In 1982, he chaired the Concertation Régionale sur le Cancer, which led to the creation of the Comité Technique Régional de Cancérologie (the first in France),
- The computerization of a shared medical file in 1985, common to all the Center's departments, and the creation of a network of expert systems in oncology (Oncolog) between the Regional Treatment Centers, with prospects of opening up to specialists and general practitioners,
- The radiotherapy department, positioning it as one of the largest in France,
- Opération Saturne" (1986-1991), sponsored by Patrick Baudry (French astronaut) and run in conjunction with the Centre des Jeunes Dirigeants, for the construction of an operating theatre and the purchase of a "Saturne" linear gas pedal for intra-operative radiotherapy,
- The "Baclesse Team Spirit" concept,
- De-dramatize the specificity of the establishment: oncology.
"His passion for innovation naturally led him to invest early in the field of information technology, which enabled the Centre François Baclesse to be one of the first hospitals to computerize a shared medical record.
He is the father of our current values: Humanism, Excellence, Innovation, Solidarity.
His other passions
Philosophy / Spirituality / Metaphysics / Humanities
- President and founder of the Groupe d'étude Teilhard de Chardin de Normandie (1993-2015)
- Creator and administrator of the former www.groupe-teilhard.org website.
He is the author of 4 essays:
- "L'esprit matière ou les deux faces de l'Univers" (2004)
- "L'Homme et le mystère du cosmos: sous le regard de Teilhard de Chardin" (2007)
- "Meditations on the meaning of life: with Teilhard de Chardin (2015)
- "Paths of Hope (2016)
"Jacques-Séverin Abbatucci was above all a man of reflection, and his questioning of the meaning of life guided him to the end.
