Lecture: «F. Humbert, the orthopedist of the Meuse woods»
Relive the saga of F. Humbert (1776-1850), a health officer, who founded the first orthopedic establishment in Morley, France. He revolutionized orthopedics by arousing admiration and suspicion.
Conference + Visit of the facades of the old orthopedic establishment
Born in 1776 into a family of magistrates, François Humbert was not predisposed to open the first French orthopedic establishment. It was the revolutionary context that forced him, at the age of 17, to become a military surgeon. Then, passionate about anatomy, he continued his medical studies in Paris. Without completing his studies, he moved to Morley, in the Meuse, where the departmental medical jury received him as a health officer in 1804. A country doctor, he distinguished himself as a district doctor practising vaccinations or as a surgeon of the hospice of Joinville (Haute-Marne). In 1817 he founded his institution, where he treated patients with scoliosis by mechanical means of his invention. In 1827, he revolutionized orthopedic medicine, taking charge of the Congenital Luxations of the Hip, pathologies deemed incurable at the time. His discoveries provoke admiration and controversy. Good communicator, he writes his works accompanied by models of his orthopedic machines. Awarded by the Royal Academy of Sciences, he gradually falls into oblivion, leaving us today books, archives, orthopedic models and art collection.
-- Conference at the town hall of Morley: 1 Place Charles-de-Gaulle. Following the conference, you will head to the orthopedic facility, located a few metres away, to visit the façades.