Joseph-François Malgaigne


Joseph-François Malgaigne was a French surgeon and medical historian born in Charmes-sur-Moselle, Vosges.
He studied medicine in Paris, and was later a surgeon of Parisian hospitals, including Hôpitals Saint-Louis, Charité and Beaujon. At the Hôpital Saint-Louis he was a colleague of Auguste Nélaton. Malgaigne was father-in-law to surgeon Léon Clément Le Fort. In 1846 he became a member of the Académie de Médecine.
Malgaigne is known for his work with bone fractures and dislocations, specializing in orthopedic surgery of the knee, hip and shoulder. In 1834 he published Manuel de medecine operatoire, an influential work on surgical techniques. This book was later translated into several languages. In 1843 Malgaigne, together with Germanicus Mirault designed a flap transposition procedure to close cleft lips.
As an advocate of statistical analysis in medicine, he is remembered for conducting statistical hospital surveys in Paris. As an historian, he was a scholar of the works of Hippocrates and editor of Ambroise Paré's writings. In 1841 he was founder of the surgical journal, Journal de chirurgie.

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