Antoine Louis Dugès (19 December 1797 – 1 May 1838) was a French

obstetrician Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...

and

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

born in

Charleville-Mézières Charleville-Mézières () is a commune of northern France and the prefecture of the Ardennes department, in the Grand Est region. Charleville-Mézières is located on the banks of the river Meuse. History Charleville and Mézières were ori ...

Ardennes The Ardennes ( ; ; ; ; ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France. Geological ...

. He was the father of

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

Alfredo Dugès Alfredo Dugès (born Alfred Auguste Delsescautz Dugès; 16 April 1826 – 7 January 1910) was a French-born, Mexican physician and naturalist born in Montpellier. He was the son of zoologist Antoine Louis Dugès (1797–1838). Alfredo Dugès is la ...

(1826–1910), and a nephew to

midwife A midwife (: midwives) is a health professional who cares for mothers and Infant, newborns around childbirth, a specialisation known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughou ...

Marie-Louise Lachapelle (1769–1821). He studied medicine in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and began work as a

prosector A prosector is a person with the special task of preparing a dissection for demonstration, usually in medical schools or hospitals. Many important anatomists began their careers as prosectors working for lecturers and demonstrators in anatomy and ...

in 1820. In 1825 he received his

agrégation In France, the () is the most competitive and prestigious examination for civil service in the French public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all stu ...

, shortly afterwards being appointed professor of

obstetrics Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a su ...

at the

University of Montpellier The University of Montpellier () is a public university, public research university located in Montpellier, in south-east of France. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous opera ...

. In 1826, he published ''Manuel d'obstétrique'', a textbook on obstetrics that was published in several editions. He was also responsible for the publication of his aunt's works on obstetrics. As a zoologist, Dugès conducted osteological and myological studies of

amphibians Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...

. He also performed extensive research of acarids (mites). In 1838, he published an influential work on

comparative physiology Comparative physiology is a subdiscipline of physiology that studies and exploits the diversity of functional characteristics of various kinds of organisms. It is closely related to evolutionary physiology and environmental physiology. Many ...

, titled ''Traité de physiologie comparée''. He was a member of several learned societies, including the ''

Académie de Médecine An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

'' and the '' Académie des sciences de Paris''. He died in

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) 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 France, department of ...

on 1 May 1838, at the age of 40.

Eponyms

Antoine Louis Dugès is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of lizard, '' Lacerta dugesii''. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2014). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Dugès, A.L.", pp. 76-77). The genus of freshwater planarians ''

Dugesia ''Dugesia'' is a genus of freshwater planarians in the family Dugesiidae triclads and the type genus of this family. These common flatworms are found in freshwater habitats of Africa, Eurasia, and Australia. ''Dugesia'' is best known to non-spe ...

'' is named after him.

Selected publications

*''Essai sur la nature de la fièvre'', 1823 *''Manuel d'obstétrique'', 1826 *''Discours sur les causes et le traitement des difformités du rachis'', 1827 *''Recherches sur l'organisation et les mœurs des Planariées'', 1828 *''Mémoire sur la conformité organique dans l'échelle animale'', 1832 *''Recherches sur l'ostéologie et la myologie des batraciens à leurs différens âges'', 1834 *''Recherches sur l'ordre des Acariens en général et la famille des Trombidées en particulier'', 1834 *''Traité de physiologie comparée'', 1838

Source

*''This article is based on a translation of an equivalent article at the French Wikipedia'', reference listed as
Dictionnaire encyclopédique des sciences médicales: vol. 64, 1884, p. 642

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duges, Antoine Louis 1797 births 1838 deaths People from Charleville-Mézières French naturalists Members of the French Academy of Sciences French obstetricians University of Montpellier people