Pierre Dionis and the Franco−British dialogue in surgery

Pierre Dionis (1643?−1718), though not himself a very innovative surgeon, has been acclaimed as the author of a surgical textbook that opened a new era in which French surgical teaching dominated Europe. This dominance is reflected in the Gordon Craig Library, which contains four copies of the book by Dionis in English translation, as well as a number of other books by influential French 18th century surgical writers, notably Henri François Le Dran and François Quesnay. It is significant that many of these writers benefited from government patronage in various forms. Dionis himself began his career as demonstrator in anatomy and surgery at the Jardin du Roi, in his time the premier teaching institution in those sciences. He later became a court surgeon.

 During the course of the 18th century, French surgery gained ascendancy over French academic medicine and also on the inter­national stage. English surgery, likewise, made great progress. There was a very productive dialogue between medical scientists and teachers in both countries, assisted by textbooks in translation.

 The French Revolution demolished the medical and surgical institutions established under the old regime, but French surgery emerged from the rubble to play a great part in the birth of modern clinical medicine