Jean-Nicolas Corvisart

Jean-Nicolas Corvisart-Desmarets (15 February 1755 – 18 September 1821) was a French physician.

Born in the French village of Dricourt (now in Ardennes) in 1755, Corvisart translated Leopold von Auenbrugg's Inventum Novum from Latin into French. Corvisart was especially fond of Auenbrugg's use of chest percussion as a diagnostic tool, and began to perfect the technique. He resurrected percussion during the French Revolution after it had fallen out of fashion. Corvisart emphasized the study of symptoms and examined postmortem evidence as well.

From 1777 he studied at the Ecole de médecine in Paris, later qualifying as docteur régent of the Faculté de Paris (1782). In 1797, Corvisart began to teach at the Collège de France, where he gained a reputation as an expert in cardiology. Among his students were René Laennec, Guillaume Dupuytren, Marie François Xavier Bichat and Pierre Bretonneau.

In 1804, Corvisart became the primary physician of Napoléon Bonaparte, who he continued to attend to until Bonaparte's exile to St. Helena Island, October 1815. In 1820 he was made a member of Académie Nationale de Médecine. He died the following year at Courbevoie.

Jean-Nicolas Corvisart was born on February 15, 1755, in the French village of Dricourt, Ardennes. His father, Pierre Corvisart, was an attorney for the Parliament of Paris. He moved to Dricourt when the Parliament dissolved, but returned to Paris after the birth of his son, who he destined to be a fellow lawyer. At the age of 12, at his fathers wish, Jean-Nicolas Corvisart entered the prestigious college of Sainte-Barbe. A mediocre student, Corvisart spent most of his time playing outdoor sports, giving no indication of the bright future his father dreamt. However, one day, after listening to anatomy professor, Anoine Petit, and visiting medical clinics in Paris, Corvisart became fascinated in medicine. He convinced his father and quit pursuing law to pursue a medical profession. Corvisart immediately obtained a position at the Hotel-Dieu as a male nurse. He later attended medical school at the Faculte de Medicine, where he was an outstanding student, known for his work ethic, observation skills, and independent spirit. To his peers, he was known to be stocky in stature, vigorous in manner, outspoken, honest, generous to the poor, and not afraid to defy tradition. Corvisart had the option of choosing between medicine and surgery, and decided he preferred and was more attracted towards medicine. While in medical school, Corvisart studied and closely followed the likes of Debois de Rochefort, Busquet Halle, Pelletan Roger, Vicq d' Azyr and was a favorite pupil of Atonine Petit and Pierre-Joseph Desault. Even as the youngest member of his class, Corvisart was at the top of his class. He presented his inaugural thesis on September 2, 1782, and graduated from medical school that same year. Unfortunately, his defiance to tradition ultimately led to his failure in finding work after graduation. He had applied to the Hosipital of Paroisses, which was founded by Madam Necker, but was denied of working there as a physician by Necker because he refused to wear the powdered wig required for the position. Thus, Corvisart started his practice as a doctor in the poor neighborhoods of Saint Sulpice in Paris. Corvisart soon became distinguished for not only his skills as a clinician, but also for his personality. He slowly became more and more well known, climbing up the ranks, and eventually, in 1783, was appointed to teach physiology, surgery, and obstetrics to medical school. Eventually, in 1786, he became the professor of clinical pathology. Corvisart also worked closely with Debois de Rochfort at the Charite Hospital in Paris. Upon Rochfort's death, Corvisart succeeded Rochfort and worked as a physician at the hospital. Once again, Corvisart excelled and his reputation spread across the hospital and the city. By 1795, Corvisart was elected to be the Chair of Clinical Medicine of what was a newly formed medical school at the Charite Hospital in Paris and took over the clinical teaching. Corvisart innovated new methods in treating patients, focusing not on researching diseases in cadavers, but on recognizing particular diseases based on signs and symptoms given off by the patient. Consequently, this new method was taught to the entire hospital, thus adopting a new method of treating patients that is still used today. Patients were divided into different categories of diseases, and an assistant would have daily observations of the patient, and present the observation and heath status of the patient to the respective physician.

...
Wikipedia