author
L. (Léopold) Deslandes
1796–1850
A 19th-century French physician, he is best remembered for a widely circulated medical treatise on the supposed effects of sexual excess and masturbation. His work captures a revealing mix of medicine, morality, and anxiety in its era.
1 Audiobook
A Treatise on the Diseases Produced By Onanism, Masturbation, Self-Pollution, and Other Excesses.
by L. (Léopold) Deslandes
About the author
Little biographical detail is easy to confirm, but library and bibliographic records identify him as L. (Léopold) Deslandes, a French doctor who lived from 1796 to 1850.
He is chiefly known for De l'onanisme et des autres abus vénériens considérés dans leurs rapports avec la santé (1835), a medical work that was later translated into English as A Treatise on the Diseases Produced by Onanism, Masturbation, Self-Pollution, and Other Excesses. The book reflects a common 19th-century belief that linked sexual behavior to physical and mental decline.
Today, Deslandes is read less as a medical authority than as a historical witness to the fears and assumptions of his time. His surviving reputation rests on how clearly his writing shows the overlap between early modern medicine, social norms, and the history of sexuality.