Parasitology in France: the past.

Abstract The ‘French School of Parasitology' has its roots in the thirteenth century. Since then, it has contributed much to our understanding of parasitic organisms, their biology and their role as etiological agents of disease. In many fields of parasitology, the names of members of this school remain associated with taxonomic groups or species and they include two Nobel Prize winners, yet today, the origins of these names and the efforts of these early parasitologists have too often been forgotten. Here, Ian Humphery-Smith, Jean Theodorides, Louis Touratier and Anne-Marie Le-Flohic outline the highlights of the French contribution to our knowledge of host-parasite relationships.