Medical Pioneer. Prosper Meniere received professional recognition as a nineteenth century French physician, who was known for his early neuro-otology research focusing on the anatomy and physiology of the inner ear. Presented to the France Academy of Medicine in Paris, Ménière's January 8, 1861 paper stated that the triad of episodic vertigo, tinnitus, and hearing loss could be related to dysfunction of the vestibular apparatus in the inner ear, not just the cerebellum in the brain. Today, the condition of chronic vertigo, ringing in the ear is called Meniere's Disease. Born the third of four children of a merchant, he began his study of medicine locally receiving awards for excellence in 1817, 1818, and before going to Paris to study in 1819, received another award. Excelling in his lessons in Paris, he received a Gold Medal in 1826, graduated in 1828 with a Doctorate in Medicine, and accepted a position at the prestigious hospital in Paris, Hotel Dieu. He wrote poetry as a medical student and later, he had a passion for orchids, with being published on both subjects. By 1832 he held a position on the Board of Examiners for Physicians and was an assassinate professor at the University of Paris, yet never received full professorship with the city in turmoil. During this time period, he witnessed great political unrest in France with many aristocrats being beheaded, uncontrollable rioting, and the downfall fall of Napoleon. Socializing with French writers and politicians, he was well-known socially as well as being a respected physician. In 1834 he accepted a post as Chef de Clinque to Chomel. In 1835, he was sent by the government to manage a cholera epidemic in the south of France and for this, he received the Chevalur of Legion of Honor. While at Chomel from 1836 to 1837 he had an opportunity practice his obstetrical skills with one of his patients being Duchess of Berry. With the death of ontology founder, Jean Marc Gaspard Itard in 1838, he was appointed chef physician of what became the Institute for Deaf Mutes, and stayed until his death, with his son, Emile, replacing him. While other physicians were looking for a cure for deafness, he focused on overcoming the disability of deafness. For better communication, he insisted that all the staff and the students were required to use sign language at the institute. Providing better housing for all, he segregated patients with severe learning disabilities from those who were able to learn in hope of teaching them. He researched the disease pellagra reasoning that it was caused by an inner ear dysfunction but today, it is known that pellagra is caused by a deficiency of vitamin B. He did pioneering research on the possibility of deafness could be a heredity trait transmitted from one generation to the next and publishing a paper on this in 1856. The same year he came to the institute, 1838, he married Mademoiselle Becquerel, the daughter of a professor at the Paris Botanical Garden and the aunt of Anton Becquerel, who received the 1903 Nobel Prize with Marie and Pierre Currie for the discovery of radioactivity. Besides authoring papers about the inner ear, he was a prolific writer with essays on botany, articles on politics, detailed obituaries for historical figures, translating other authors' works from German into French, at least eleven articles published in the "Medical Gazette," and numerous letters that were later published. Strangely, his 1861 memoirs give little on his personal life except that he did travel to Germany and Italy. His most noted publication was his 1861 paper, "On a Particular Kind of Hearing Loss Resulting from Lesions of the Inner Ear." With all his accomplishments and earned respect from colleagues during his career, he was never elected a member of the French Academy of Medicine before his sudden death, which was only one year after his paper published in 1861. Like with many researchers, the importance of their discovery is often learned years later. He died from influenza and pneumonia and was buried in his family's vault. The correction spelling of his surname has been in question for years, as even his son spelled the surname different from how his well-known father spelled it. Today, most people omit the accent marks: Meniere. The Prosper Meniere Society annually awards their high-coveted Gold Medal to the professional that exhibits excellence in "research, scientific or innovation, far-reaching contributions to the study of the inner ear."