Paul Brouardel

Life & Legacy

Paul Camille Hippolyte Brouardel (13 February 1837, Saint-Quentin, Aisne – 23 July 1906) was a French pathologist, hygienist, and member of the Académie Nationale de Médecine.
In 1858 he became an externe at the Hôpital Cochin in Paris, and in 1865 earned his medical doctorate. In 1873 he became director of medical services at the Hôpital Saint-Antoine and la Pitié. In 1879 he became a professor of forensics at the Faculté de Médecine de Paris, and succeeded Auguste Ambroise Tardieu (1818–1879) as doyen of French forensic medicine. From 1884 to 1904 he was chair of the Consultative Committee of Hygiene, and in 1899 was elected president of the French Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AFAS).
Brouardel was the leading authority of French forensic medicine, and was also a passionate advocate concerning all aspects of public health and hygiene. He was at the forefront of issues such as food safety, tuberculosis, venereal disease, child abuse, alcoholism and public decency. Brouardel was a major influence on the career of neurologist Georges Gilles de la Tourette (1857–1904).
With physician Ernest Mosny (1861–1918), he was co-author of the multi-volume Traité d'hygiène, and with Augustin Nicolas Gilbert (1858–1927) and Joseph Girode, he published the 10-volume Traité de médecine et de Thérapeutique (1895–1902).