Larrey, DOMINIQUE JEAN, BARON,

Larrey, DOMINIQUE JEAN, BARON, a celebrated French surgeon, was born at Beauléan, near Bagnères-de-Bigorre, in the Pyrenees, in July 1766, studied medicine in Toulouse, and after graduating served as surgeon in the navy. But in 1793 he transferred his skill to the army, and introduced the 'flying ambulance' service. After teaching for a short time at Toulon and Val de Grâce, he joined Napoleon in Italy in 1797; and from that time onwards invariably accompanied the successful Corsican in his campaigns. In 1805 he was placed at the head of the medico-surgical department of the French army, and a few years later was created a baron of the empire. Larrey continued to fill important offices till 1836, when he retired from that of surgeon-general of the Hôtel-des-Invalides. He died at Lyons, 25th July 1842. From his pen came valuable treatises on army surgery and the treatment of wounds; they were translated into most European languages. See the German memoir by Werner (1885).