![Gui Patin](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Gui_Patin.jpg)
Guy (or Guido) Patin (1601 in
Hodenc-en-Bray,
Oise
Oise ( ; ; pcd, Oése) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,419 ...
– 30 August 1672 in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
) was a French doctor and man of letters.
Patin was doyen (or dean) of the Faculty of Medicine in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
(1650–1652) and professor in the
Collège de France
The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment (''grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris ne ...
starting in 1655. His scientific and medical works are not considered particularly enlightened by modern medical scholars (he has sometimes been compared to the doctors in the works of
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...
). He is most well known today for his extensive correspondence: his style was light and playful (he has been compared to early 17th century philosophical
libertine
A libertine is a person devoid of most moral principles, a sense of responsibility, or sexual restraints, which they see as unnecessary or undesirable, and is especially someone who ignores or even spurns accepted morals and forms of behaviour ob ...
s), and his letters are an important document for
historians of medicine. Patin and his son
Charles
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...
were also dealers in clandestine books, and Patin wrote occasional poetry (such as a quatrain to honor
Henric Piccardt (1636-1712)
On 22 March 1648, Patin wrote a famous letter commenting on the new rage of
tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...
drinking in Paris, calling it "the impertinent novelty of the century", and mentioning the new book by
Dr. Philibert Morisset titled ''Ergo Thea Chinesium, Menti Confert'' (Does Chinese Tea Increase Mentality?), which praises tea as a panacea:
One of our doctors, named Morisset, who is much more of a braggart than a skilful man... caused a thesis on tea to be published here. Everybody disapproved of it; there were some of our doctors who burned it, and protests were made to the dean for having approved the thesis.
''Naudaeana et Patiniana, ou, Singularitez Remarquables'', recording conversations between Patin and his great friend
Gabriel Naudé
Gabriel Naudé (2 February 1600 – 10 July 1653) was a French librarian and scholar. He was a prolific writer who produced works on many subjects including politics, religion, history and the supernatural. An influential work on library science ...
, librarian of the
Bibliothèque Mazarine
The Bibliothèque Mazarine, or Mazarin Library, is located within the Palais de l'institut de France, or the Palace of the Institute of France (previously the Collège des Quatre-Nations of the University of Paris), at 23 quai de Conti in the 6 ...
, was edited by
Jean-Aymar Piganiol de La Force Jean-Aymar Piganiol de la Force (Aurillac, 1673 – Paris, 1753), son of Pierre and of Marguerite Parisot, dame de La Force, was a French man of letters known above all for works of a descriptive geographical character, for which he travelled exten ...
and published in Paris, 1701; a revised edition with a Preface by
Pierre Bayle
Pierre Bayle (; 18 November 1647 – 28 December 1706) was a French philosopher, author, and lexicographer. A Huguenot, Bayle fled to the Dutch Republic in 1681 because of religious persecution in France. He is best known for his '' Historica ...
appeared in Amsterdam, 1703.
References
Sources
*
Gustave Vapereau
Louis Gustave Vapereau (4 April 1819 – 18 April 1906) was a French writer and lexicographer famous primarily for his dictionaries, the ''Dictionnaire universel des contemporains'' and the ''Dictionnaire universel des littérateurs''.
Biography
...
, ''Dictionnaire universel des littératures'', Paris, Hachette, 1876, p. 1554.
Thèse de l’École des chartes de Laure Jestaz (2001)* Françoise Waquet,
Guy et Charles Patin, père et fils, et la contrebande du livre à Paris au XVIIe siècle' in Journal des savants, 1979, n°2. pp. 125–148.
* Loïc Capron
Correspondance française de Guy Patin édition critique en ligne sur le site de la
Bibliothèque interuniversitaire de Santé
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patin, Guy
1601 births
1672 deaths
17th-century French physicians
French medical writers
Physicians from Paris
Writers from Paris