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Paul Lemoine (1917–2006) is considered to have been the first to have described foetal alcohol syndrome in Ouest-médical in 1968. However, his career and his discovery do not seem to be as popular in France as one might expect. This retrospection aims to situate this discovery in its historical context. The first part presents the author (a biography of Paul Lemoine) and his work (an article by Lemoine and colleagues entitled “Children of alcoholic parents” in Ouest-médical and a Doctor of Medicine thesis by his student, J.-P. Borteyru, on the same subject). The second part provides some explanations to give an understanding of the lack of interest in this discovery and its discoverer in France in the 70s and the 80s (research on the offspring of alcoholics in France at that time, poor communication, conditions allowing a change of perception concerning foetal alcohol syndrome).