Thomas Wiltberger Evans (December 23, 1823 – November 14, 1897) was an American dentist. He performed dental procedures on many heads of state, including

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

, and received numerous medals for his dentistry, including the

Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

. He is noted for popularizing a number of techniques that have since become standard, including the use of amalgam fillings and of

nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or nos, is a chemical compound, an oxide of nitrogen with the formula . At room temperature, it is a colourless non-flammable gas, and has a ...

. In 1868, Evans helped found the '' American Register'', the first American newspaper published in Paris. In 1884 he published the first English translation of the memoirs of

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was a German poet, writer and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of '' Lied ...

, to which he also wrote the introduction. He also was active in the arts; helping to launch the career of famous American sculptor

Cyrus Dallin Cyrus Edwin Dallin (November 22, 1861 – November 14, 1944) was an American sculptor best known for his depictions of Native Americans. He created more than 260 works, including the ''Equestrian Statue of Paul Revere'' in Boston, Massac ...

commissioning one of his first equestrian sculptures, The

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revoluti ...

in 1889. The statue was prominently displayed at the Paris Exhibition of 1889. He was famous for having assisted the

Empress Eugénie An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empr ...

in escaping from Paris in 1870, along with

Joseph Bonaparte it, Giuseppe-Napoleone Buonaparte es, José Napoleón Bonaparte , house = Bonaparte , father = Carlo Buonaparte , mother = Letizia Ramolino , birth_date = 7 January 1768 , birth_place = Corte, Corsica, Republic of ...

's grandson Louis Joseph Benton, after the

Battle of Sedan The Battle of Sedan was fought during the Franco-Prussian War from 1 to 2 September 1870. Resulting in the capture of Emperor Napoleon III and over a hundred thousand troops, it effectively decided the war in favour of Prussia and its allies, ...

.: "Dr. Evans was best known for his rescue of the Empress Eugénie..." He died in Paris, where he had lived for many years, and was buried in

Woodlands Cemetery, Philadelphia The Woodlands is a National Historic Landmark District on the west bank of the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. It includes a Federal-style mansion, a matching carriage house and stable, and a garden landscape that in 1840 was transformed into a ...

. In his will, he left money and land for the founding of what was to become the

University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine The University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine (often referred to as Penn Dental Medicine or simply Penn Dental) is the dental school of the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), an Ivy League university located in Philadelphia. It is one ...

References

* * * * *

David McCullough David Gaub McCullough (; July 7, 1933 – August 7, 2022) was an American popular historian. He was a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. In 2006, he was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States ...

, '' The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris'', Simon & Schuster, 2011,

External links

* Finding aid to th
Thomas W. Evans papers
at th
University of Pennsylvania Libraries

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Thomas Wiltberger American dentists Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur 1823 births 1897 deaths Burials at The Woodlands Cemetery American expatriates in France Patrons of the arts 19th-century dentists