Guillaume Dupuytren

Guillaume Dupuytren, Baron Dupuytren (1777 to 1835), was a French anatomist and military surgeon, born at Pierre-Buffiere in what is now the Haute-Vienne. He studied at the new Ecole de Medecine in Paris and was made a prosector by competition at eighteen. He became assistant surgeon at the Hotel-Dieu in 1803, professor of operative surgery in 1811, and in 1816 professor of clinical surgery and head surgeon there, a post he kept until his death. He is best known for describing the contracture of the hand that carries his name, which he first operated on in 1831 and which was published in The Lancet in 1834. His writings include a treatise on the artificial anus, and he was among the first to drain a brain abscess by trepanation. A demanding teacher with many critics, he left money to endow an anatomical chair, and the Musee Dupuytren was founded from his bequest. This record describes a historical surgeon and is not medical advice.