author

L. (Léopold) Deslandes

1796–1850

A 19th-century French physician whose best-known work explored sexuality, health, and medical anxieties of his era. His books traveled widely in French and English, making him a small but notable figure in the history of medicine.

1 Audiobook

A Treatise on the Diseases Produced By Onanism, Masturbation, Self-Pollution, and Other Excesses.

A Treatise on the Diseases Produced By Onanism, Masturbation, Self-Pollution, and Other Excesses.

by L. (Léopold) Deslandes

About the author

Born in Paris in 1796, Léopold Deslandes was a French doctor and medical writer. Bibliographic records from the Bibliothèque nationale de France identify him as an author from France and place his life between 1796 and 1850.

Deslandes is best known for De l'onanisme et des autres abus vénériens considérés dans leurs rapports avec la santé, published in 1835. English editions appeared under titles such as A Treatise on the Diseases Produced by Onanism, Masturbation, Self-Pollution, and Other Excesses, where he is presented as a member of the Royal Academy of Medicine at Paris.

Today, his writing is mainly of interest as a window into 19th-century medical thought rather than as modern medical guidance. For listeners drawn to the history of medicine, morality, and changing ideas about the body, his work offers a vivid glimpse of how doctors once tried to explain intimate subjects.