Jean-André Venel (28 May 1740 – 9 March 1791) was a Swiss surgeon and a pioneer in the field of

orthopedics Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics (American and British English spelling differences, alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgic ...

Biography

Venel was born on 28 May 1740 in Morges,

Vaud Vaud ( ; , ), more formally Canton of Vaud, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of Subdivisions of the canton of Vaud, ten districts; its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat ...

, the son of Jean-François Venel, a barber surgeon and perruquier, and Françoise-Elizabeth Guex. He apprenticed as a surgeon with François-David Cabanis in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

. Venel continued his education 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 ...

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

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, and practiced in Vaud at Orbe and Yverdon; between 1770 and 1775 he was attached to the court of Count Stanisław Potocki. In 1778, Venel opened in Yverdon the first school for midwives in Switzerland. He then turned to orthopedics, then very recent field, and in 1780 established the world's first orthopaedics clinic in Orbe.

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.Dr Rudy Dewantara, "Orthopaedic is My Life", June 9, 2008. Accessed 26 October 2012
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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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Venel, Jean-André 1740 births 1791 deaths People from Morges 18th-century Swiss physicians 18th-century Swiss physicians Swiss orthopedic surgeons