Paré, Amboise

(ca. 1509-1590)

   surgeon

   Born in Bourg-Hersent, near Laval, Amboise Paré was self-taught, became a barber-surgeon in 1536, and served successively as surgeon to kings henry ii, Francis ii, charles IX, and henry ш. Paré invented the method of binding arteries with ligatures that he substituted for cauterization after amputation; he also discovered ways of extracting projectiles based on the position of the wound. His great practical skills and humaneness distinguished him from his contemporaries and made him famous throughout Europe. Because he had no formal education, and thus discussed his work in his native language, his writings had a wide influence on the public, as well as on medical professionals. in his writings, too, Paré shows a remarkably modern empirical sense, for which reason he is considered the father of modern surgery. Paré is the author of a number of treatises.