Jean-André Venel (28 May 1740 – 9 March 1791) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

doctor and a pioneer in the field of

orthopedics Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternatively spelt orthopaedics), is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

. Venel was born in

Morges Morges (; la, Morgiis, plural, probably ablative, else dative; frp, Môrges) is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud and the seat of the district of Morges. It is located on Lake Geneva. History Morges is first mentioned in 1288 as ' ...

, the son of a surgeon, Jean-François Venel. He studied medicine in

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

, Paris and Strasbourg, and practised at

Orbe Orbe (; la, Urba; older german: Orbach, ; frp, Orba) is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud. It was the seat of the former district of Orbe and is now part of the district of Jura-Nord Vaudois. History Orbe is first mentioned about 2 ...

and

Yverdon Yverdon-les-Bains () (called Eburodunum and Ebredunum during the Roman era) is a municipality in the district of Jura-Nord vaudois of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is the seat of the district. The population of Yverdon-les-Bains, , was ...

; between 1770 and 1775 he was attached to the court of Count Stanisław Potocki.

Nicholas Andry Nicolas Andry de Bois-Regard (1658 – 13 May 1742) was a French physician and writer. He played a significant role in the early history of both parasitology and orthopedics, the name for which is taken from Andry's book ''Orthopédie''. Early li ...

, in his work ''Orthopaedia, or the Art of Preventing and Correcting Deformities in Children'' (English edition 1741), had been the first to use the term "orthopaedia", but Venel is regarded by many as the "father of orthopaedics" because of his development of the practical applications. He for example established the world's first orthopaedics clinic in

(VD).

Works

*''Nouveaux Secours Pour les Corps arrêtés Dans L’Oesophage; Ou Description De quatre Instrumens plus propres qu’aucun des anciens moyens à retirer ces Corps par la Bouche.'' (1769) *''Essai sur la santé et sur l’éducation médicinale des filles destinées au mariage.'' (1776)

References

1740 births 1791 deaths Swiss orthopedic surgeons People from Morges {{Switzerland-med-bio-stub