Marie Marguerite Bihéron (17 November 1719 – 18 June 1795) (also known as Marie Catherine Bihéron) was a French anatomist, known for her

medical illustration A medical illustration is a form of biological illustration that helps to record and disseminate medical, anatomical, and related knowledge. History Medical illustrations have been made possibly since the beginning of medicine in any case for h ...

s and wax figure models.

Biography

Bihéron was the daughter of a French

apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is a mostly archaic term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses '' materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and North Ameri ...

, born in 1719.Londa L. Schiebinger (1991), ''The Mind Has No Sex? Women in the Origins of Modern Science'', pp.27-30. She studied illustration at the Jardin du RoiAndrew Cunningham, ''The Anatomist Anatomis'd: An Experimental Discipline in Enlightenment Europe'', Ashgate Publishing, 2010, p. and with

Madeleine Basseporte Madeleine may refer to: Common meanings *Madeleine (name), also Madeline, a feminine given name *Madeleine (cake), a traditional sweet cake from France *Mary Magdalene, also called the Madeleine Arts and entertainment * ''Madelein'' (1919 fi ...

, of whom little is known outside of her anatomical drawings, and the memoirs of contemporaries. To procure bodies for her anatomical studies, Bihéron was forced to have them stolen from the military. Frustrated with their rapid putrefaction, Autumn Stanley, ''Mothers and Daughters of Invention: Notes for Revised History of Technology'', Rutgers University Press, 1995. and at the suggestion of Basseporte, Bihéron turned her skills towards

anatomical wax model A wax sculpture is a depiction made using a waxy substance. Often these are effigy, effigies, usually of a notable individual, but there are also death masks and scenes with many figures, mostly in relief. The properties of beeswax make it an ...

ing, becoming a leading and highly recognized practitioner of this art. The famous physician Villoisin and the scholar Jussieu were impressed, and both promoted her work. In 1759, Jean Morand invited her to present her work to the

Academie Royale des Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at th ...

. She was invited again in 1770, to demonstrate an innovative, very detailed and lifelike model of a pregnant woman, complete with moveable parts and fetuses. In 1771 she presented to the Academie Royale for the third time, this time presenting her models to the visiting crown prince of Sweden, Gustavus of Sweden.June K. Burton (2007), ''Napoleon and the Woman Question: Discourses of the Other Sex in French Education, Medicine, and Medical Law, 1799-1815'', Texas Tech University Press (2007), pp.81-82. Her models achieved international renown, both because of their great anatomical accuracy and lifelikeness, and because she apparently had a method of making wax models that did not melt.

Jakob Jonas Björnståhl Jakob Jonas Björnståhl (January 23, 1731 in Rotarbo – July 11, 1779 in Thessaloniki), Swedish orientalist and Greek philologist from the Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for bot ...

wrote to

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

, that: : Björnståhl has witnessed an anatomical miracle. Marie Catherine Biheron makes models of parts of the body that are absolutely lifelike. And they do not break. She does not reveal what material they are made of, although it seems as if they were made of wax mixed with something. All parts are correctly named in Latin and Greek. She has studied this art for more than 20 years. The King of Denmark

Christian VII Christian VII (29 January 1749 – 13 March 1808) was a monarch of the House of Oldenburg who was King of Denmark–Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein from 1766 until his death in 1808. For his motto he chose: "''Gloria ex amore patriae''" ...

is one of her customers. She sends her respects to Linnaeus.Letter written April 15, 1769
by Jacob Jonas Björnståhl, to

. Because the Academie did not support women, Bihéron had to earn a living privately, by exhibiting and selling her models, as well as by teaching. She moved to England, because women were not permitted to teach anatomy in France. Among her students was John Hunter, a Scottish doctor who greatly advanced the field of surgery — Bihéron's anatomical lessons were critical to his study, and some of the illustrations in his book were likely Bihéron's.

Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the ''Encyclopédie'' along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a prominen ...

was also apparently one of her anatomy students. Bihéron also earned money by selling her models. The King of Denmark was one customer, and Empress Catherine II of Russia another; the latter purchasing Bihéron's complete set of anatomical models. Exhibitions included a 1761 exhibition, advertised by her pamphlet "Artificial Anatomy", proposing to show the body in "greatest precision", including internal organs, which could be manipulated—Bihéron permitted viewing at her home on the Vieille Estrapade near the Rue des Poules, beginning on 13 May 1761, and continued for some time.

References

* G. Boulinier (2001), "A Female Anatomist of the Enlightenment: Marie Marguerite Biheron" * June K. Burton (2007), ''Napoleon and the Woman Question: Discourses of the Other Sex in French Education, Medicine, and Medical Law, 1799-1815'', Texas Tech University Press (2007) * Paul Dorveaux (1901-1902), ''Les femmes médecins. Notes sur Mademoiselle Biheron'' * Catherine M. C. Haines (2001), ''International Women in Science: A Biographical Dictionary to 1950'' *

Marilyn Ogilvie Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie (born 1936) is an American historian of science known especially for her work on the history of women in science. She taught at Oklahoma Baptist University before becoming curator of the History of Science Collections and ...

and

Joy Harvey Joy Dorothy Harvey (born 1934) is an American historian of science. Life Harvey gained a PhD from Harvard University in 1983. She has been an associate editor of the Darwin Correspondence Project, and written a biography of Clémence Royer, Dar ...

, eds., ''The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: Pioneering Lives from Ancient Times to the Mid-20th Century'', New York: Routledge (2000) * Jean-Pierre Poirier (2002), ''Histoire des femmes de science en France'' * Londa L. Schiebinger (1989), ''The Mind Has No Sex? Women in the Origins of Modern Science'', Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press * Laura Lynn Windsor (2002), ''Women in Medicine: An Encyclopedia'', p. 27

Notes

External links

* Jeanne Pfeiffer
"The Role of Women in the Development of Modern Anatomy"
2007-2009 (covering Marie Marguerite Bihéron and

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Biheron, Marie Marguerite 1719 births 1795 deaths French anatomists Medical illustrators 18th-century French sculptors 18th-century French women artists 18th-century French women scientists Women anatomists

Biography

See also

References

Notes

External links