We would like to inform our visitors that the garden will be closed on the following dates:
Thank you for your understanding, and we wish you a wonderful summer!
Every five years, a new dean’s office team—composed of associate deans and special advisors—is appointed by the dean to represent the dean in carrying out specific tasks. This year, Prof. Émilie Olié was appointed Special Advisor for Student Well-Being. Read her interview here: learn about her background and the projects she hopes to implement as part of her role!
I am a psychiatrist specializing in mood disorders and suicidal behavior. After completing my medical studies in Paris, I went on to complete my internship and residency in psychiatry in Montpellier.
As for my background, a few years ago I developed a genuine interest in student well-being. We launched a project involving psychotherapy sessions to prevent burnout among medical students. As part of this initiative, Dean Mondain appointed me as the liaison for the former CNA (National Support Council) regarding the quality of life for health sciences students. This role was renewed by the Dean with the new CNA-ES, and the position of project manager followed shortly thereafter.
I believe that my work as a program coordinator and my professional responsibilities complement each other quite well. As part of my specialty, I am called upon to provide guidance or even support to students who are experiencing psychological difficulties. I intend to use my skills to promote student well-being.
The first area of focus concerns mental health: strengthening psychological support within the university—whether through counseling or referral services—raising awareness of the support services currently available, and implementing training programs for students and administrative staff to help them identify and refer individuals in need.
The second area of focus involves implementing measures to combat gender-based and sexual violence (VSS).
First, because it’s a worthy cause—we want students to thrive in the Faculty and to ensure that their academic experience is filled with positive moments. Second, because this appointment as Student Well-Being Coordinator aligns perfectly with my area of expertise, which focuses on improving the daily lives of people who are suffering.
For the 19thedition edition of “Rendez-vous aux Jardins,” gardeners and botanists invite you to join them across Europe to explore the theme “Gardens in the Face of Climate Change.” The event, organized by the Ministry of Culture, will take place from Friday, June 3, through Sunday, June 5, 2022. And here’s some good news: Montpellier’s Jardin des Plantes will be participating for two days.
Starting Friday, June 3, nearly 2,200 gardens will open their doors, offering moments of joy and discovery. It’s an opportunity to share with family and friends through a wide range of activities. Throughout the weekend, visitors will be able to interact with experts on nature conservation measures, with the goal of raising awareness about the protection of biodiversity—which is essential to the well-being of all living things. Furthermore, in recent years, thanks to successful European cooperation, many countries have joined the initiative, including Germany, Portugal, Croatia, Italy, Poland, and France. This is an opportunity to discover splendid gardens, such as the Jardin des Plantes at the Montpellier Faculty of Medicine.
The Jardin des Plantes at the Montpellier School of Medicine is opening its doors this year for its 19th annual event. In groups of 25, you’ll explore the Garden’s iconic sites through 14 tours centered on recurring themes such as “Bees and Humans in 2022,” “Aromatic Plants and the Five Senses Plots,” or general tours. All passionate about botany, our five gardener-botanists—who will take on the role of guides for the duration of the weekend—will explain how plants are adapting to climate change in their respective areas of expertise. The goal of these two days is to foster interaction between our gardeners-botanists and the general public, as well as to raise awareness among young people and adults alike about the importance of preserving and promoting the Faculty’s Jardin des Plantes. An iconic landmark of Montpellier, come discover it with fresh eyes. We look forward to seeing many of you there!
All tours depart from the municipal guards' station on Boulevard Henri IV.
The maximum number of people per visit is limited to 25.
Inspired by the Jardin des Plantes and its historic herbarium, discover the “Botanica” exhibition curated by Christelle Boulé as part of the Boutographie Festival. From Saturday, May 7, through Sunday, May 29, enjoy a floral stroll right in the heart of the Orangerie.
Each year, the Boutographie festival offers a parallel program that creates a circuit through various cultural venues in Montpellier. Originally scheduled for 2019 but canceled due to the health crisis, the Jardin des Plantes is hosting the Botanica project this year—a series of 15 paintings paying tribute to its botanical collections. To learn more about the project’s origins and inspirations, we spoke with artist Christelle Boullé.
I grew up in Montreal and studied art. I later decided to switch to graphic design and earned a bachelor’s degree in 2009. After moving to Lausanne, Switzerland, I worked for four years as a graphic designer at an agency. Following that experience, I decided to resume my studies and enrolled in the Master’s program in photography at ECAN, a world-renowned school, from 2014 to 2016. That’s when I began approaching photography the way I do today—in an experimental manner, particularly through a series I created on the theme of perfume. It involves working in a darkroom, much like with film photography, but in this case, the photos are developed in color. I love it when a photo is unique, and this technique provides a playground for creativity.
In 2017, I submitted my graduation project to exhibit at the Pavillon Populaire. I was contacted again in late 2019 for an “Hors les Murs” exhibition, which showcases various photo series throughout Montpellier. They reached out to me because I work with materials. I really like the Boutographies project because it helps showcase emerging artists; it’s very refreshing and gives us the chance to discover projects that don’t get as much exposure.
This invitation is a wonderful gift. I had been working for two or three years on ways to represent fragrance when the Boutographies came up with this idea in collaboration with the Jardin des Plantes in Montpellier. So I began researching this place and was immediately inspired. It’s a fantastic spot. I watched documentaries and news reports to discover the richness of the herbariums, which immediately caught my interest. I wanted to connect with the material and pay homage to nature, scents, and forms. So I set out to create a timeless garden—one we could have in our own homes or that might have existed 300 years ago—to bridge the past and the future.
I didn’t go to the Jardin des Plantes; I decided to imagine it and let myself be inspired. So I turned to my friends who had traveled to places like Japan or Canada and taken photos of plants. My work was based on my research and, above all, on my interpretation of what the Jardin might be like.
Launched in 2020, the Botanica photography series is not yet complete, and Christelle Boulé is continuing to work on it.
To experience an explosion of color, visit the Orangerie throughout the month of May!
After winning MUSE’s Take-Off 3 competition, Drs. Herrero and Bonnel presented the PREPABLOC training program during the “Surgical Research and Innovation 2021” session at the National Academy of Surgery. The program went on to win the Educational Innovation Award! Here’s a look back at this unique training program.
The launch of PREPABLOC stemmed from a co-creation initiative led by Dr. Herrero, with support from Dr. Ferrandis. A multidisciplinary, multi-professional team was assembled, comprising:
Organized and coordinated by the Innovation Accelerator, this is an innovation marathon in the form of a team competition with teams of about ten people. Creativity sessions enable participants to develop useful projects in record time and learn how to “pitch” them by the end of the week. The five themes were stress, communication, the future of surgical education, making operating room careers more appealing, and creating an “Escape Game.”
The future IBODEs—who will serve as mentors to tomorrow’s surgeons—had the opportunity to participate in various theoretical and practical workshops throughout a week-long “conference.” The IBODE school’s administrators focused their presentations on hygiene and instrumentation. The Assistant Chief Residents from the hospitals of the University Hospital and theICM led theoretical courses, sharing insights into their work as hospital surgeons, conducting workshops on suturing and surgical knots, and allowing students to test their skills on a laparoscopy simulator. The LIRMM teams also collaborated at the high-tech university hospital simulation facility on the Arnaud de Villeneuve campus, which Dr. Debien and his teams operate on a daily basis. A workshop was also dedicated to applying casts, led by Christophe, the lead cast technician in the CHU’s emergency department.
This project was made possible thanks to financial support from MUSE (Montpellier University of Excellence) through a call for proposals titled “ Take OFF 3 ” call for proposals, which we won in June 2020 with the active assistance of the innovation facilitator (Dr. Christophe BONNEL and Anaïs CAUSSE). The team at MUSE’s Center for Educational Innovation (CSIP) also contributed to the project by creating an interactive, fun card game and designing an “Escape Game” that will be offered next year.
The creation of this Open Course Unit was a success among students. Indeed, founded by a multidisciplinary and multi-professional team, this project attracted particular interest from an engaged audience consisting of students in their thirdyear year of medical school, engineering students from the LIRMM (robotics engineers), and IBODE students (Operating Room Nurses).
The students particularly appreciated the experience and the winning project on the future of surgical education is currently being evaluated to determine how to move it forward. The teaching teams in Nîmes, who are already well-versed in these concepts, are already involved in adapting it, and the PREPABLOC team will share its experience with anyone nationwide who wishes to draw inspiration from it, in accordance with the academy’s wishes.
April 2022 will see elections held for the three councils of our UFR: the Management Council (or UFR Council), the Academic Council, and the Scientific Council. This article provides the schedule for these elections and details on how to run for office and vote.
Download all documents related to this election below:
Middle School A
The voter rolls are available for review at the reception desks on the ADV campus and the Nîmes campus, as well as on the university’s intranet.
Download the announcement of the results below
Download all documents related to this election below:
After finishing in second place in 2017, our students are back in full force this year and took first place in the PlasmaCup, an intercollegiate challenge organized by the EFS to raise awareness about the importance of plasma donation. Here’s a look back at the challenge and the experience of our student coordinators for the Faculty of Medicine—Esteban, Pauline, and Carlota, members of the ACM association.
Every year, the PlasmaCup is organized by the EFS (Etablissement Français du Sang) in several university towns across France. What is the goal of this challenge? To raise awareness among as many students as possible about the importance of plasma donation.
In Montpellier, the Maison du Don is where it all happens. Located in the Euromédecine neighborhood and accessible by tram (Line 1), the Maison du Don welcomes donors of blood, plasma, and platelets.
As part of the PlasmaCup, a box was set up so that each student donor could indicate their home institution. Each donation earned the institution 1 point.
With a total of 17 donations, the Faculty of Medicine has taken the top spot in the “Grandes Écoles” category. This ranking is a source of great pride for Esteban, Pauline, and Carlota, who serve as President and Vice Presidents, respectively, of the ACM’s ISS (Health and Social Innovation)division. “The EFS Solidarity Trophy will join the 2017 trophy in the student union office!” says Esteban. In fact, the ACM had previously coordinated the Faculty of Medicine’s participation as well. That year, we took second place.
To reward our students, Emilie Moral, the EFS promotions coordinator, presented the trophy to Esteban on Friday, February 4, along with tickets to an escape game, tickets to the MHR vs. Stade Français rugby match, and other goodies. “The prizes will be redistributed to the donors,” Carlota emphasizes.
Esteban and Carlota wanted to share their experience with us. ““After confirming my participation in the PlasmaCup by placing my ballot in the box, I met with the EFS doctor to verify that I was indeed eligible to donate plasma. Then, for about 45 minutes, I went through the donation process, which is essentially the same as donating blood, except for the machine that separates the blood from the plasma,” explains Carlota.
“As a healthcare student, I found the process really interesting. Compared to a typical blood donation, you interact with the healthcare professionals overseeing the donation for much longer, and it’s a real opportunity to talk with them. The equipment used is also impressive. It really helps us connect what we’re learning in class to real-world practice,” says Esteban.
When asked if donating was tiring, Carlota is quick to reassure: “Not at all! Unlike donating blood, the red blood cells are reinfused into us. There’s no anemia, so there’s no fatigue.”
With all this in mind, there’s no reason to be afraid of donating plasma! Emilie Moral tells us that the PlasmaCup will return in the fall of 2022.
“The ACM will be back!” says Esteban. But that’s not all: The Plasma Cup is open to all members of the university community. So we’re counting on our students, as well as faculty and staff, to contribute to the 2022 challenge! Stay tuned for more updates 🙂
In addition to the blood drives organized on our campuses by student associations (in Montpellier by the ACM in October, February, and April), you can donate blood, plasma, or platelets at the Maison du Don in Montpellier:
On January 30, 2022, the France 3 program *Ô la belle vie* featured the Montpellier Faculty of Medicine in a special episode. Available for replay, you can learn about the history of this renowned center of learning, which dates back 800 years, and its latest news.
As part of the show *Ô la Belle Vie*, join Professor Gérald Chanques as he takes you on a journey to discover the inner workings of the world’s oldest medical school still in operation. Rabelais, Rondelet, and the school’s iconic locations will hold no more secrets for you. Blending art and technological innovation, the show will explore topics such as robotics and the work of ceramic artist Isabelle Doblas Coutaud, who depicts anatomy through her art. You’ll also have the chance to take a brief detour to the Jardin des Plantes with Cédric Matet, creator of the exhibition“L’Humain dans son Jardin.”
Ô la Belle Vie – Medicine in Montpellier: A True Art, produced by Grand Angle Production and France Télévisions.
Hosted by Sophie Jovillard. Aired on Sunday, January 30, 2022, and available for replay here.
On Thursday, January 27, 2022, Dr. Catherine Alix-Panabières received the prestigious Savchuk Prize at the 15th Oncology Biennial for her work on “liquid biopsies.” A look back at 23 years of research in the field of oncology.
Dr. Alix-Panabières, director of the Rare Human Circulating Cells (CCRH) laboratory at Montpellier University Hospital, has been dedicated to her research for 23 years. Coined by her in 2010 in collaboration with her German colleague, Professor Klaus Pantel of Hamburg, the term “liquid biopsy”—which complements tissue biopsy—refers to a blood test that is performed repeatedly throughout a patient’s treatment.
A liquid biopsy provides access to circulating cells or particles released by the primary tumor or metastases. The advantage? It offers the ability to repeatedly study tumors located in inaccessible areas, all while being noninvasive. After the blood sample is collected, it provides information on the tumor’s progression and, consequently, the effectiveness of treatment.
His research focuses on three fundamental aspects:
We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Dr. Catherine Alix-Pananières on winning this award!
The Dean of the School of Medicine and all the administrative and teaching staff at our institution extend their best wishes to you for 2022. To mark the occasion, watch the video message from our Dean, Isabelle Laffont.
"I would like to take this opportunity to commend the exceptional dedication of our teams and the adaptability you have all demonstrated in dealing with these challenging circumstances."
“2021 was an eventful year, a positive year, and a successful year—and yet it unfolded against the backdrop of a challenging pandemic. I would like to take this opportunity to commend the exceptional dedication of our teams and the adaptability you have all demonstrated in dealing with these difficult circumstances.”
“We are kicking off 2022, a year I hope will be marked by calm, cooperation, and responsibility.”
“I wish for us all—and for each of you—a peaceful 2022, one that sees a return to a sense of calm on the COVID front, with the end of this pandemic and its health and societal consequences. I wish you a peaceful 2022, one that also sees the stabilization of the many reforms to medical education that have taken place in recent years. It is time to take a step back and focus on all the programs offered by this faculty. ”
“I wish for us all—and for each of you—a productive 2022. Productive, first and foremost, in the area of medical education reform, with the implementation of thepostgraduate reform, which will require our time and energy over the next two years. We will also be developing and finalizing the Faculty of Medicine’s health-related master’s programs. And finally, still in the realm of education, the rollout and organization of health simulation, which will play an increasingly important role in our faculty organizations.”
“Finally, I hope that 2022 will be a year of responsibility. I’ve spoken about social responsibility in the context of territoriality, but I’m also referring to social responsibility: the university must continue to take care of itself and its community. It must help further strengthen staff members’ sense of belonging to the university’s initiatives.”
"I also hope you'll continue to maintain the enthusiasm and creativity that define you."
Marie-Anne GILLAIN was born in 1773 in Montreuil, near Versailles.
She was sent to boarding school with the Sisters of the Visitation.
During the Revolution, she took refuge in Etampes with a relative who was the mother superior of the Hospitalières de l’Hôtel-Dieu.
There she attended the surgeon’s lectures and served for two and a half years, from 1793 to 1796, as a hospital volunteer—that is, as a layperson who volunteered her services to the poor and sick.
In 1797, she returned to Versailles to marry Louis BOIVIN, deputy head of the National Domains office.
She became pregnant early on, but was suddenly widowed in 1798 at the age of 25, left without any means of support and with a young daughter to raise.
She then decided to put to use the knowledge she had gained from the surgeon at the Hôtel-Dieu in Étampes and enrolled in the Midwifery School at the Maternity Hospital in 1799.
In 1800, she graduated and left for Versailles to be reunited with her daughter and pursue her career.
In 1801, following the death of her daughter, she obtained permission from Marie-Louise Lachapelle to return to the Maternity Hospice
In 1803, she was appointed chief supervisor of the breastfeeding section. She held this position for eleven years, until 1814. During this long tenure, she took the opportunity to attend the lectures of her patron, the surgeons at the Maternity Hospital (Baudelocque, then Dubois), and the chief physicians (Andry, and especially Chaussier), from whom she gathered observations and lessons.
In 1812, she wrote and published *A Treatise on the Art of Childbirth*. The work was approved by the Ministry of the Interior, which included it among the textbooks given to graduates of the Maternity School.
In 1814, the position of supervisor that she held was eliminated, and she was dismissed with a severance payment equal to her annual salary, or 360 francs.
Starting in October, she was hired as a storekeeper and steward at the Poissy General Hospital, a position she held until January 1819, when the General Hospital was converted into a prison.
Little is known about this period of her life: Did she continue her obstetric practice despite her new, more administrative duties? Did she do so at the general hospital? Or with a private clientele? In any case, for a time she appears to have earned a comfortable annual salary of 1,200 francs—almost as much as the head midwife at the Maternity Hospital.
In 1818, she entered the Paris Medical Society’s competition anonymously, submitting a paper on internal uterine hemorrhages. She was awarded the medal.
On February1, 1819, she joined the Maison Royale de Santé in Paris as chief supervising midwife, with a modest salary of 350 francs per year.
In 1821, an opportunity for promotion arose following the death of Marie-Louise Lachapelle.
According to procedure, the General Council of the Hospices must submit to the Minister of the Interior a list of five female candidates to succeed the renowned midwife.
On November 14, 1821, the Council voted to approve a list with Marie-Anne Boivin at the top; she received 12 out of 12 votes in the first round of voting to select the top candidate.
A month and a half later, the Minister of the Interior endorsed the Council’s decision.
But the winner declined the position (or rather, resigned), forcing the board to propose another list. Why the refusal? All contemporary biographers attribute this decision to a public promise Marie-Anne Boivin is said to have made to her former patron never to replace her, even after her death. If that is the case, she kept her word, and another midwife, Madeleine Catherine Legrand, was appointed in 1822.
Marie-Anne Boivin therefore continued to practice at the Maison Royale de Santé, where she accumulated observations, publications, and honors.
In 1828, she presented a paper on spontaneous abortions, which was awarded a prize by the Bordeaux Medical Society.
In September 1835, at the age of 62, worn out and exhausted, she retired and urged the hospice board to grant her a pension. Finally, after suffering a first stroke that left her hemiplegic, she died in May 1841.
In 1902, one of the rooms in the renovated maternity ward was named after Marie-Anne Boivin.
She was born in 1563 on Boulevard Saint-Germain or in Mons to a family of doctors.
In 1594, she married Martin BOURSIER, a master surgeon and student of Ambroise PARÉ.
She finds herself without any means of support when her husband is enlisted in the king's army.
She quickly gained a reputation among the ladies of the court and delivered the queen's children six times.
She is paid 500 crowns for the birth of a boy and 300 for the birth of a girl.
It lost its prominence following the death of Marie de Bourbon-Montpensier, wife of Gaston d’Orléans, at the time of the birth of the Grande Mademoiselle.
According to the surgeons who performed the autopsy on the woman who had given birth, her death was attributed to placental debris remaining in the uterus, and Louise Bourgeois was subsequently accused of negligence.
At that time, there were few male obstetricians practicing, and they were trying to gain the upper hand over the midwives' guild.
Louise questions their competence by harshly criticizing the autopsy findings and the skills of the obstetricians; however, her response has the opposite effect of what she intended, as it ends up giving them publicity.
She was the first midwife to write a book on obstetrics, *Various Observations on Infertility, Miscarriage, Fertility, Childbirth, and Diseases of Women and Newborns*, published in 1609.
In this book, she points out that infertility in a couple can be caused by the man, even though—like the doctors of that era—she confuses the ability to procreate with sexual vigor.
She identified the role of malnutrition in fetal health, and she was the first to prescribe iron supplements to treat anemia.
She emphasizes the importance of anatomical knowledge for midwives and urges doctors to allow them to attend lectures and dissection sessions.
In 1636, the Parisian midwives submitted a petition to the Faculty of Medicine requesting that Louise Bourgeois be allowed to teach them obstetrics, but their request was denied.
Subsequently, however, one of her students, Marguerite du Tertre de la Marche, was appointed head of the midwives at the Hôtel-Dieu and succeeded in overhauling their training program.
She died on December 20, 1636, on Boulevard Saint-Germain at the age of 73.
He was born on November 30, 1745, in Heilly, Picardy.
He was the son of Jean Baptiste BAUDELOCQUE, a surgeon, and Anne Marguerite LEVASSEUR. His brothers Félix Honoré (1744–1794) and Jean Baptiste (1749–1800) were both doctors. He was the third of ten children.
It was his father who introduced him to surgery in the countryside of Picardy.
He completed his studies in Paris at the Hôpital de la Charité, where a renowned professor of obstetrics, Solayrès de Renhac (1737–1772), was on staff.
In 1772, following Solayrès’s untimely death at the age of 35, he collected the manuscripts of his lectures and succeeded him as professor of obstetrics at the Hôpital de la Charité. Thanks to Baudelocque, Solayrès’s work was saved from oblivion.
In 1775, at the initiative of Augier du FOT, a surgeon and childbirth instructor in Soissons, he published—based on manuscripts bequeathed by Solayrès de RENHAC—the first edition of a manual intended for the training of midwives. This work was later republished under his name alone, under the title“Principles of the Art of Childbirth: Questions and Answers for Student Midwives.” It was reprinted three times during Baudelocque’s lifetime and three more times posthumously.
In 1776, following the defense of his dissertation on symphysotomy, titled“An in partu propter angustiam pelvis impossibili, symphysis ossium secanda?”, he was appointed surgeon at the Hôpital de la Charité in Paris and was awarded the title of Master of Surgery by the Paris College of Surgery.
On April 5 or 6, 1777, in Paris, he married Andrée DERULLIER (née de Vulier, de Voulier, de Rullie, or de Rouillier), whose family made mannequins of pregnant women for demonstrations in childbirth classes; she died on January 4, 1787, childless.
In 1781 and 1789, he published the first two editions of his scholarly treatise*The Art of Childbirth* in two volumes. He became famous for his forceps, his practice of cesarean sections, and the invention of the pelvimeter, which measures the external anteroposterior diameter to identify patients who might experience difficulties during childbirth.
On September 14, 1788, in Amiens, he married Marie Catherine Rose Laurent; the couple had five children (three daughters and two sons).
During the French Revolution, the guilds and faculties were abolished. Hospitals lost some of their staff and funding. Baudelocque, however, managed to build a reputation as an obstetrician thanks to a clientele in the city and private obstetrics classes.
In 1794, the former Faculty of Medicine was replaced by the École centrale de Santé de Paris, where he was responsible for teaching medical students and midwives.
In October 1795, the Hospice de la Maternité took in poor women and unwed mothers to assist them during childbirth and provided clinical training for midwives and doctors from the École de Santé.
In addition, this facility also takes in abandoned children.
In 1798, Baudelocque, in addition to his position as professor of obstetrics at the Paris School of Public Health, became chief surgeon at the Maternity Hospital.
In 1802, the Hospice de la Maternité school was founded, where Baudelocque put his teaching skills to use, employing mannequins to allow students to practice examinations and obstetric procedures. He emphasized observation over active intervention, preferring to let nature take its course and using instruments as little as possible.
Busy with his many responsibilities, he delegated part of his authority to the head midwife of the Maternity Ward, Marie-Louise Lachapelle (1769–1821), who took on part of the training of the midwifery students and was authorized to use forceps on her own in the event of a difficult delivery.
He was involved in a high-profile lawsuit brought against him by an obstetrician, Jean François SACOMBE, a fierce opponent of cesarean sections and a defender of traditional midwifery practices. Sacombe, who had set himself up as a defender of midwives and accused Baudelocque of infanticide, ultimately lost his case in 1804 and, in the process, any sense of proportion.
In 1806, Napoleon appointed Jean-Louis Baudelocque to the chair of obstetrics, the first medical specialty chair in France.
He became the obstetrician to the queens of Spain, Holland, and Naples, as well as to all the ladies of the court.
He had been chosen and selected in advance to deliver the heir awaited by Napoleon and Empress Marie-Louise of Austria. But, struck down by a cerebral hemorrhage, he would not live to see the birth of the King of Rome.
He died on May 2 or 3, 1810, at 16 Rue Jacob in Paris (6th arrondissement), where he lived, at the age of 65.
He was buried at the Vaugirard West Cemetery, then exhumed due to land acquisition for the construction of what is now Boulevard Pasteur.
He was then buried on August 17, 1839, at Père-Lachaise Cemetery (45thdivision).
He was the most famous obstetrician of his time.
A physician at the Hôpital des Enfants Malades, he would lend his name to the Baudelocque Clinic in 1890.
In 1966, the Port-Royal Maternity Hospital was built. The two facilities merged in 1993 (14th arrondissement of Paris).
There is now a midwifery school on Avenue Denfert-Rochereau that bears her name.
He was born on July 2, 1746, in Dijon, in the parish of Saint Pierre.
His father was a master glazier.
After completing his training at the Dijon hospital, his mother sent him to Paris to continue his medical studies, and he enrolled at the Royal College of Surgery, where he attended classes regularly from 1765 to 1767 and took anatomy courses taught by Raphaël SABATIER and Jean-Joseph SUE.
At the same time, he was learning the basics of surgery at Lafaye’s clinics and, in the afternoons, at those of Isaac GOURSAUD.
His years of surgical training came to an end in 1768, when he earned the title of Master of Surgery; he then settled in Dijon as a surgeon
He married Jeanne CARRE, the daughter and granddaughter of a master surgeon, on July 27, 1767, in Quetigny, Côte d’Or. Together they had a son, Bernard François Hector (1769–1837).
In 1769, he began teaching a free course in human and comparative anatomy, which was attended by many students for more than ten years.
In 1774, the Estates of Burgundy established a chemistry program with Louis-Bernard GUYTON de MORVEAU as the full professor and Hugues MARET and François CHAUSSIER as assistant professors. Upon MARET’s death in 1786, he was promoted to second professor of chemistry.
In Dijon, his professional qualities earned him the favor of his patients, and his reputation quickly spread beyond Burgundy; he distinguished himself at the Academy of Surgery through several presentations, and as a result, he was awarded the Academy’s Gold Medal at the public session on April 10, 1777.
He received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Besançon on January 14, 1780, and in 1784, he became a corresponding member of the Royal Society of Medicine. That same year, he was admitted to the Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Literature in Dijon, where he became secretary-general following the retirement of Guyton de Morveau.
In 1785, at the request of the Estates of Burgundy, he published a popular guide on the treatment of bites from rabid animals: “Method for Treating Bites from Rabid Animals and Vipers; Followed by a Summary on the Malignant Pustule” (with Joseph Enaux, 1726–1798).
In 1789, he published a study on the muscles of the human body, in which he proposed a more rational classification than the one taught up to that point: “A Brief Overview of the Muscles of the Human Body According to the Methodical Classification and Nomenclature Adopted in the Public Anatomy Course at Dijon”; this work was reprinted in 1797.
On December 20, 1789, he read a paper titled “Surgical-Forensic Observations on an Important Point of Criminal Jurisprudence” at the Academy of Dijon, in which he demonstrated the role that a physician could play in assisting the justice system; this work attracted attention, and the following year he launched a course in forensic medicine in Dijon.
On 3 Nivôse, Year III (December 23, 1794), he married Angélique LABOREY in Dijon (Crébillon District); they also had a son, Franck Bernard Simon (1804–1866).
In 1794, Antoine-François Fourcroy was tasked by the National Convention with reorganizing medical education and sought out a figure who could provide him with the details of this reorganization. Claude-Antoine Prieur-Duvernois, from the Côte-d’Or, who headed the Department of Science and the Arts on the Committee of Public Safety, recommended François Chaussier, who thus joined the Committee of Public Instruction: he drafted a report and a proposed decree, which he read from the rostrum of the Convention on 7 Frimaire, Year III (November 27, 1794); In it, he proposed the creation of a single “Central School of Health” in Paris; the members of the Convention, who were broadly in favor of decentralization, called for the creation of other similar schools in Montpellier and Strasbourg, and it was on this basis that the report was adopted on 14 Frimaire (December 4).
Chaussier returned to Dijon, where he resumed his lectures and studies as well as the duties entrusted to him: he had been appointed physician of the Dijon Hospices in April 1793 and Prison Surgeon; he did not remain there long, however, as he was recalled to Paris to occupy the chair of anatomy and physiology at the School of Health. Chaussier was, in the words of Joseph-Henri Réveillé-Parise, the most famous professor of physiology at the École de Paris: he argued that vitalism was the foundation of all studies in physiology.
A decree dated 7 Vendémiaire, Year III (September 28, 1794) officially established the École Centrale des Travaux Publics, which would later become the École Polytechnique, the Board of Directors proposed, less than a month after the school opened, to establish an infirmary there and to appoint a “health officer” (the revolutionary term for doctors) to care for sick students and also to teach lessons on “the art of preventing and alleviating diseases.” The roster of École Polytechnique staff for the following year lists him as an assistant to Claude Louis Berthollet, “simultaneously responsible for the courses in Zootechnics and Public Health, and School Physician”: in fact, he taught Berthollet’s course during the latter’s absence in Italy in 1796–1797. After the formalization of chemistry instruction, Chaussier appears to have abandoned teaching this science and confined himself almost entirely to his duties as a physician.
In 1799, *Les tables synoptiques* was published to great acclaim. It provides a summary of the physiology, pathology, and treatment of the various anatomical systems of the human body.
On May 9, 1804, he was appointed Physician of the Maternity Hospitals and entrusted with the chairmanship of the medical examination boards for the examinations to become a Public Health Officer, Pharmacist, and Midwife for the district of the Paris Faculty of Medicine.
He was a member of the commission appointed by the Minister of the Interior in October 1810 to study “secret remedies”; there he worked alongside André Marie Constant Duméril, Jean-Joseph Menuret, and Nicolas Deyeux.
In 1815, after the fall of the First Empire, he was replaced as physician at the École Polytechnique, but he retained his chair at the Faculty until November 21, 1822, when the Restoration reorganized the Faculty: he was appointed honorary professor and his chair was revoked. He was deeply embittered by this, and the next day, he suffered a stroke that temporarily left him unable to speak or walk. He recovered, however, though he remained hemiplegic—a condition that did not prevent him from continuing his work at the Maternity Hospital.
On May 6, 1823, he was admitted tothe Academy of Sciences.
Between 1824 and 1827, he published several works on forensic medicine: “Forensic Manual of Poisons, Preceded by Considerations on Poisoning”14, “Collection of Papers, Consultations, and Reports on Various Topics in Forensic Medicine”15, “A Forensic Medical Treatise on the Viability of the Newborn, Presented toHis Excellency the Keeper of the Seals, Minister of Justice”16
François Chaussier died at his home in Paris on June 19, 1828, at the age of 81, from a stroke.
He was buried at Père-Lachaise Cemetery (18th division) on June 21: Nicolas-Philibert Adelon delivered a speech on behalf of the Academy; Marie-Alexandre Désormaux, representing the Faculty, did the same; and Duméril, on behalf of the Royal Academy of Sciences, read a lengthy eulogy.
Franck CHAUSSIER, thesecond son, followed in his father's footsteps and defended his doctoral dissertation in 1827 in Montpellier.
He is a French physician, a professor at the Paris Faculty of Medicine, and a member of the Royal Academy of Medicine and the Academy of Sciences.
Chaussier was the chief editor of the articles on pharmacy inthe *Encyclopédie méthodique*13.
She was born in 1712 in Clermont-Ferrand to a family of doctors.
For the first three years, she studied under Anne BAIRSIN, a midwife.
On September 26, 1739, she received her diploma and shortly thereafter became a licensed midwife.
She worked as a master midwife at Châtelet in Paris for sixteen years.
In 1752, to put theory into practice, she published a book titled *A Summary of the Art of Childbirth*.
In 1754, she returned to Auvergne and began giving free lessons.
In 1758, she designed her famous demonstration “machine” (made of wood, cardboard, fabric, and cotton), which was approved on December1 by the Academy of Surgery.
During the two-month training course, the students were encouraged to practice on the mannequin.
She died on April 16, 1794, at the age of 79, in Bordeaux, in poverty and solitude, with her niece and her husband absent. There is a Rue Angélique du Coudray in Thorigné-Fouillard and also a Rue Madame-du-Coudray in Clermont-Ferrand, her hometown. The maternity ward at the Melun Hospital (77) is also named after her.
