Philippe Charlier

Charlier at workPhilippe Charlier is a French coroner, forensic pathologist and paleopathologist. In addition to various significant French figures, he has analyzed the dental remains of Adolf Hitler, citing them as confirming the dictator's death in Berlin amid various fringe theories.

Early life and education Charlier was born in Meaux on 25 June 1977. His father is a doctor, his mother a pharmacist. He was raised with an awareness of classical antiquity and at the age of 6 he dug up a mole's skeleton, followed by a human skull at the age of 10.

Work Charlier's work has focused on the remains of Richard Lionheart, Agnès Sorel, Fulk III, Count of Anjou, Diane de Poitiers, relics of Louis IX scattered in France, and potential relics of Joan of Arc.

Hitler's dental remains

In 2017, Charlier reconfirmed the authenticity of Adolf Hitler's dental remains, the only remains of the Nazi dictator ever confirmed to have been found, finding the maxillar bridge and mandibular fragment (broken off around the alveolar process) to agree with their description by the Soviets.

Charlier cites the teeth as confirming Hitler's death amid various fringe theories that he survived by fleeing to South America. The pathologist disregarded 2009 DNA analysis revealing that a gunshot-damaged occipital bone fragment (long claimed to be Hitler's) actually belonged to a woman. He has also bolstered the propagandistic Soviet account of an alleged autopsy, while not addressing the possibility of partial mandibulectomy and deception by eyewitnesses.