Abbé de Coulmier 2814816 225456180 2008-07-13T20:04:51Z Attilios 428795 sthg '''François Simonet de Coulmier''' ([[September 30]] [[1741]] - [[June 4]] [[1818]]) was a French [[Catholic priest]] and abbot, and the director of the [[Charenton (asylum)|Charenton]] [[insane asylum]] in [[France]] in the early 19th century. He was often criticized for his "overly liberal" methods of treatment, as he favored allowing patients the right to [[Art therapy|express themselves via art]], and discouraged the more primitive habits of crude physical restraint and punishment of mental patients of the day. Coulmier was born at [[Dijon]]. His semi-enlightened administration of Charenton was of concern to France's medical establishment, which opposed Coulmier because he was not a [[medical doctor]]. He retained many of the treatment practices which are nowadays termed brutal, including locking patients in a wicker cage, making use of [[straitjacket]]s and using [[Dunking|terror baths]]. He also employed treatments that at the time were considered quite advanced, including [[Diet (nutrition)|diets]], [[Bloodletting|bleeding]], and purges. After [[Napoleon]]'s fall and the restoration of the [[House of Bourbon|Bourbons]], Coulmier was relieved of his duties, probably because of his [[revolutionary]] past. Despite his significant work in [[psychotherapy]], today de Coulmier is known primarily for his interactions with the [[Marquis de Sade]], having been the asylum director when Sade was [[Involuntary commitment|institutionalized]]. Coulmier provided Sade with writing supplies, permitted Sade's wife to live in the asylum, and allowed Sade to produce a play which featured other asylum residents as actors. In the film ''[[Quills]]'', he was portrayed by [[Joaquin Phoenix]]; this drew criticism on the part of historians, as the real Coulmier was extremely short<!-- "four feet tall", says the IMDb's trivia page, but I'm thinking of how the [[Napoleon]] entry says that the issue of Napoleon's height has been muddled by a confusion between British feet and French feet -->, and has been described as a [[hunchback]]. Coulmier is also represented in [[Peter Weiss]]'s famous play ''[[Marat/Sade|The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade]]''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Coulmier, Francois Simone}} [[category:1741 births]] [[category:1818 deaths]] [[category:People from Dijon]] [[Category:French psychologists]] [[Category:Abbés]] [[fr:François de Coulmiers]]