Antoine Louis ( fr. Antoine Louis ; February 13, 1723 , Metz - May 20, 1792 , Paris ) is a French surgeon and physiologist who has made a significant contribution to modern medical science, but best known for his participation in improving the guillotine and its popularization as a means for a more humane execution . He was also known for the invention of the plunger for plumbing purposes.
| Antoine Louis | |
|---|---|
| fr. Antoine louis | |
 | |
| Date of Birth | February 13, 1723 |
| Place of Birth | Metz |
| Date of death | May 20, 1792 (69 years old) |
| Place of death | Paris |
| Nationality | Kingdom of France |
| Occupation | Medic , surgeon |
Biography
Louis's father, a major surgeon at a local military hospital , was his first teacher. Already at the age of 20, he began to work as a regimental surgeon. He then moved to Paris , where he served at the Salpetriere Hospital . In 1750, Louis received the post of professor of physiology and held it for forty years. In 1764, he was appointed Permanent Secretary of the Royal Academy of Surgery .
Louis has published many articles on surgery , including several biographies of surgeons who died during his lifetime. He made a significant contribution to the work on the third, fourth and fifth volumes of the Notes of the Royal Academy of Sciences . Diderot in the novel "Jacques Fatalist" praises the skill of Louis as a military surgeon. Moreover, according to him, Antoine Louis was one of the most valuable editors of the Encyclopedia : as an anatomist, he described the carotid arteries , pelvis , crystalline lens , stapes , parotid salivary glands , obstructive muscles; as an obstetrician - gynecologist - cesarean section and obstetric forceps ; as a pathologist gave a description of lupus erythematosus , and finally compiled an article on the history of surgery . Louis translated into French the treatise of Jean Astrueck “On sexually transmitted diseases” and published the composition “Aphorisms” of the famous Dutch doctor Herman Burgave . Louis was also a pioneer of French medical jurisprudence and in 1749 published an essay on various signs of murder and suicide by hanging .
Antoine Louis played an important role in the introduction of the guillotine . On behalf of a special commission considering ways of executing beheadings , Louis drafted a memorandum in which he spoke out for a car similar to that offered by Dr. Guillotin , and which, in turn, was an improvement on machines that were occasionally used in Scotland , Ireland , Italy and Switzerland. According to the drawings of Louis, who recommended using a slanting blade instead of a trapezoid, the German master Tobias Schmidt made a working copy of the guillotine. The first time after the creation of the guillotine was called Louisette (Louisette) or la petite Louison (Little Louison), named Louis, but soon it was assigned a name derived from the name of Guillotine.