Ambroise Pare French surgeon, one of the “fathers” of modern surgery. Country: France

Biography of Ambroise Paré

Ambroise Paré, born around 1510 in Bourg-Arsan near Laval, was a French surgeon and one of the "fathers" of modern surgery. He initially trained as a barber-surgeon and developed an interest in surgery after witnessing a procedure performed by the renowned stone removal specialist, Jacques Daléchamps.

Paré moved to Paris and enrolled in medical school, attending lectures at the Collège de France. He worked as an apprentice barber-surgeon at the Hôtel-Dieu, the main hospital in Paris, where he gained practical knowledge. In 1536, he completed an internship at a hospital and became a military surgeon in the active army. Paré improved and significantly changed the methods of treating gunshot wounds, abandoning the barbaric practices of cauterization with hot iron or boiling oil in favor of dressing and ointments.

Returning from the army in 1539, Paré passed the examination to become a "master barber-surgeon." He studied anatomy under the renowned French anatomist Sylvius. In 1545, he published his first work, "The Method of Treating Wounds" (La Méthode de traicter les playes), written in Old French rather than Latin. In 1554, Paré was admitted to the prestigious professional association of surgeons, the "Brotherhood of Saint Cosmas and Damian."

Paré served as the personal surgeon to four French kings—Henry II, Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III. In 1573, he published his work "Two Books on Surgery" (Deux Livres de chirurgie). Paré successfully used sutures to repair blood vessels during surgeries, advocated for amputation in healthy tissues, introduced joint amputation and elbow joint resection for the first time, and proposed and described numerous orthopedic devices and braces.

He pioneered surgical procedures for correcting cleft lip, developed a method for reconstructing cleft palate, improved fracture treatment, and suggested the use of limb prostheses. Paré also made significant contributions to obstetrics, which became the foundation of modern midwifery practices. He passed away on December 20, 1590, in Paris.