Morel's ear

Morel's ear is the complete or partial absence of the helix or antihelix of the outer ear. Named after Bénédict Morel, a French psychiatrist who regarded it as one of the hereditary "stigmata of degeneration" that allowed medical professions to identify the mentally ill.[1]

Marcel Proust referenced Morel's ear in In Search of Lost Time. When Charles Morel says he would like to seduce a virgin, his companion responds first of all with a gesture: "M. de Charlus could not refrain from pinching Morel's ear."[2]

References
  1. Erwin J. Haeberle, "'Stigmata of Degeneration': Prisoner Markings in Nazi Concentration Camps," Journal of Homosexuality, vol. 6, 1980/81, 135-139, available online Archived 2011-04-21 at the Wayback Machine, accessed January 3, 2012
  2. Patrick Alexander, Marcel Proust's Search for Lost Time: A Reader's Guide (), 88, availbel online, accessed January 3, 2012
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