Jean-André Venel

Jean-André Venel (1740 to 1791) was a Swiss surgeon, regarded by many as the father of orthopaedics. He was born in Morges in the Vaud, the son of a barber surgeon, apprenticed under a surgeon in Geneva, and continued his education at Montpellier, Paris and Strasbourg before practising at Orbe and Yverdon. Between 1770 and 1775 he was attached to the court of Count Stanislaw Potocki. In 1778 he opened the first school for midwives in Switzerland at Yverdon, and then turned to the very new field of orthopaedics, founding in 1780 at Orbe what is described as the first orthopaedic clinic in the world. Although Nicolas Andry had coined the word orthopaedia earlier in the century, Venel is credited with developing its practical applications. His writings include a 1769 work on instruments for removing foreign bodies from the oesophagus and a 1776 essay on the health and medical education of girls destined for marriage.