Théodore Simon

Born in Dijon in 1873, Théodore Simon was a French psychiatrist and psychologist whose name is closely linked with Alfred Binet. The two men developed the Binet-Simon scale in the early 1900s, one of the first practical tools designed to estimate children's mental development and identify students who might need extra educational support.

Simon trained in medicine and psychiatry and worked with children in clinical settings, which shaped his interest in developmental differences and intellectual disability. Alongside his testing work, he wrote on psychology, psychiatry, and education, helping connect medical observation with the growing field of child study.

Although later intelligence testing became far more controversial and complex than the early Binet-Simon project, Simon remains an important figure in its beginnings. He is remembered not just for a famous scale, but for trying to bring careful observation and humane attention to children whose needs were often poorly understood in his era.