A medical physician, John Langdon Down discovered several genetic conditions, one of which was named after him, Down's syndrome.
Born: 18th November 1828 | Died: 7th October 1896.
Born in Torpoint in Cornwall, John Langdon Down was born to an Irish pharmacist father. He worked with him for 18 years before moving to London to pursue a career in medicine.
Down excelled at the London Medical College, where he won a gold medal when he graduated. In 1858, he became the Medical Superintendent of the Earlswood Asylum for Idiots. In 1868, he founded Normansfield, after believing in the benefits of educations for individuals with intellectual disabilities. It was later run by his son.
Down's syndrome was not named as such until 1965, as it was changed from the name Down had given it (Mongolism or the Mongolian Type) because of offensive connotations. Down's significant contribution to medicine was his description of the chromosomal abnormality that causes the syndrome.
Down also described characteristics in other syndromes, including Prader-Willi syndrome, Fröhlich syndrome and Babinski-Fröhlich syndrome. Along with Down's description of the syndrome, his son Reginald, also added the simian crease to it in 1908.
Through his work describing and adding to the details of Down's syndrome, John Langdon Down's legacy was created when in 1959, Jérôme LeJeune and Patricia Jacobs identified the genetic basis of the syndrome as an extra chromosome in the 21st pair. This led to the condition also being referred to as Trisomy 21.
Langdon Down was married in 1860 to Mary Crellin, whom he met through his sister when he was living with her in London. His wife outlived him, as Langdon Down died suddenly in 1896 at the age of 67.
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