Jean-Nicolas Corvisart

Who was Jean-Nicolas Corvisart?

Jean-Nicolas Corvisart was an important figure in the history of French medicine.

Born in the French village of Dricourt in 1755, Corvisart translated Leopold von Auenbrugg's Inventum Novum from Latin into French. Corvisart was especially fond of Auenbrugg's use of chest percussion as a diagnostic tool, and began to perfect the technique.

From 1777 he studied at the Ecole de médecine in Paris, later qualifying as docteur régent of the Faculté de Paris. In 1797, Corvisart began to teach at the Collège de France, where he gained a reputation as an expert in cardiology.

In 1804, Corvisart became the primary physician of Napoléon Bonaparte, who he continued to attend to until Bonaparte's exile to St. Helena Island, October 1815. In 1820 he was made a member of Académie Nationale de Médecine. He died the following year at Courbevoie.