Jan Palfijn

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Jan Palfijn, 1758

Jan Palfijn , also written Jean Palfyn and Jan Palfyn , (born November 28, 1650 in Kortrijk , West Flanders , Belgium ; † April 21, 1730 in Gent , Belgium) was a Flemish surgeon and obstetrician .

Life

Palfijn was born the son of a surgeon and bath and came into contact with medicine. He learned Latin and the French language and went to a surgical school in Ghent. He subsequently studied in Paris and was sponsored there by the surgeon and friend Jean Devaux (1649–1729).

Palfijn was a doctor in Ypres after he was licensed there in 1673 by the Society of Surgeons and Barbers . In November 1694 he married in Ypres and then went to Paris before settling in Ghent for the rest of his life in 1697. He is known for introducing an improved version of the forceps . In the improved instrument he developed, the Main de Palfin , the two halves of the forceps were connected by a joint. This prevents the halves from being displaced until then. He presented the instrument in a presentation in Paris in 1727 during a birth. Later, his operation on a 22-year-old pregnant woman caused great excitement when he killed the fetus inside the patient's uterus ( fetotomy ) to save the mother's life.

Copies of Jan Palfyn's forceps from the Museum of the History of Medicine in Ghent

Scientific writings

His first work, printed in Flemish in 1701, was Nuova Osteologia . This book on osteology was printed in several editions and translated into French and Italian. In 1710 the two-volume work Anatomia chirurgica was published in Leiden (city) , which had a long-lasting influence on surgery in the 18th century .

Honors

Palfijn's bronze statue has been on the oat market in his hometown since 1889 . It was created by Thomas Vincotte .

Palfijn's bronze statue in Ghent, Standbeeld Jan Palfijn te Gent

His mausoleum is in the Church of St. James in Ghent.

Works (selection)

  • Nouvelle osteologie ou Description exacte des os du corps humain accompagnee de remarques chirurgicales sur le traitement de leurs maladies. Cavelier, Paris (1731)
  • Nauwkeurige negotiating van de voornaemste handicrafts of the heelkonst zoo in de harde, as deelen said van 's people lichaem. 2 full., Vermey, Leida (1710)
  • Anatomie du corps humain. 2 full., Cavelier, Paris (1726)
  • Description anatomique des parties de la femme . Chez la veuve de B. Schouten, Leide (1708).

literature

  • Arthur Brockaert : The Bader of Kortryk. The life of Jan Palfyn 1650-1730 . (Original edition: Jan Palfijn ) translated from Flemish by Bruno Loets . L. Staackmann Verlag, Leipzig 1940 (3rd edition 1944, 4th edition 1949).
  • D. de Moulin, A history of surgery with emphasis on the Netherlands, Nijhoff, Dordrecht 1988, p. 370

Individual evidence

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personal data
SURNAME Palfijn, Jan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Palfyn, Jean
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Flemish surgeon and obstetrician
DATE OF BIRTH November 28, 1650
PLACE OF BIRTH Kortrijk , West Flanders , Belgium
DATE OF DEATH April 21, 1730
Place of death Ghent , Belgium