Short description: French physiotherapist (1909 – 1991)
Françoise Mézières
Françoise Mézières (18 June 1909 – 17 October 1991) was an internationally renowned French physiotherapist.[1] She was also known for extensively practicing applied kinesiology. In 1947 she developed a physiotherapy technique, known as Mézières Method.[2]
Biography
Françoise Mézières was born on 18 June 1909 in Hanoi. She studied at the French School of Orthopedics and Massage, Paris.
Mézières was “teaching and practising classical segmented physiotherapy.”[3]
Meanwhile, she found that the body's movement needs to be adjusted in accordance with its tonic system.[4] She emphasized the importance of “global stretch of muscle chains” through which all connecting parts of the body must be “stretched and readjusted at the same time.”[5][6]
Her physiotherapy techniques are in the nature of “postural reconstruction work”.[7]
In 1947 she developed Mézières Method, an orthopedic form of bodywork, which tried to rebalance the different muscle and joint chains through guided stretching exercises.[8]
In 1976, Mezieres's theory and kinesiology practices gained worldwide recognition following the publication of the best-seller Le Corps a ses raisons by Therese Bertherat and Carole Bernstein.[1]