Marie Philibert Constant Sappey


Marie Philibert Constant Sappey was a French anatomist born in Cernon, near the city of Bourg-en-Bresse.
He studied medicine at the University of Paris, earning his degree in 1843. Later he became a professor of anatomy in Paris, and in 1862 was elected to the Académie Nationale de Médecine, becoming its president in 1887. In 1868 he succeeded Jean-François Jarjavay as chair of anatomy, a position he held until 1886.
Sappey was a highly regarded anatomist remembered for his research of the lymphatic system. In 1874 he published an anatomical atlas that included a detailed study of cutaneous lymphatic drainage. He was married to Antoinette Clotilde Dumas who was a scientific illustrator. She illustrated some of his publications. He devised a procedure to define and delineate the lymphatic system by injecting mercury into the skin of a cadaver in order to properly view the individual lymphatic vessels. Anatomist Henri Rouvière continued Sappey's anatomical work of the human lymphatic system.

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