Leo Testut (22 March 1849 – 16 January 1925) was a French physician and

anatomist Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

, born in Saint-Avit-Sénieur, Dordogne. He was born Jean Leo Testut on 22 March 1849, the son of Jean Testut and Marie Deynat. He studied medicine in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

. His studies were interrupted because of the

Franco-Prussian war The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

of 1870; he was readmitted to the Bordeaux School of Medicine in 1878. He completed his studies with a thesis for which he obtained medals from several universities in France. He was named Professor of

Anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

of the Bordeaux School of Medicine and continued his investigations in

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

in other universities. He contributed over 90 publications on anatomy,

prehistory Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...

and history, but his most noteworthy achievement has been as author of '' Traité d´anatomie humaine'', a complete, well-written, and well-illustrated work of anatomy composed of four volumes that continues to be used in many countries to the present day. The illustrations present in this book continue to be a major source of reference to other

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

books. The book is well known in medical schools, where it is considered the standard anatomy textbook. He collected the material published from personal notes and drawings after having failed

exams several times during medical school, until he finally passed. In 1889, Léo Testut announced that a prehistoric skull, found in

Chancelade Chancelade (; ) is a commune in the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. The village is the site of Chancelade Abbey. The so-called " Chancelade man" was found in the nearby Raymonden rock shelter in 1888, the sk ...

, was of a new race, which he called the " Chancelade race", which he argued was the ancestor of the

Eskimo ''Eskimo'' () is a controversial Endonym and exonym, exonym that refers to two closely related Indigenous peoples: Inuit (including the Alaska Native Iñupiat, the Canadian Inuit, and the Greenlandic Inuit) and the Yupik peoples, Yupik (or Sibe ...

. This hypothesis, though confirmed by many of his contemporaries,W. J. Sollas, ''The Chancelade Skull'', 1927 Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. is now rejected, and the Chancelade skull is considered to be a

Cro-Magnon Cro-Magnons or European early modern humans (EEMH) were the first early modern humans (''Homo sapiens'') to settle in Europe, migrating from western Asia, continuously occupying the continent possibly from as early as 56,800 years ago. They in ...

. Leo Testut died on 16 January 1925 in Bordeaux.

References

External links

Selected images from ''Traité d'anatomie humaine''
From The College of Physicians of Philadelphia Digital Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Testut, Leo 1849 births 1925 deaths French anatomists People from Dordogne