1766-1842

French Surgeon

Dominique-Jean Larrey was a French military surgeon who served during the French Revolution and during the reign of Napoleon. He is credited with introducing many of the methods of modern military field medicine, including field hospitals, ambulances, and triage on the battlefield.

Larrey was born at Baudean, Hautes-Pyrenees, France, in 1766. His parents were very poor, so the local priest took pity on Dominique-Jean and sent him to school. When he was 13 his father died, and Larrey was sent to Toulouse to live with his uncle, Dr. Oscar Larrey, a noted surgeon. At 21, Larrey moved to Paris and joined the French Navy. Five years later he joined the army and served in northern France as a field surgeon during the French Revolution.

Larrey saw almost immediately that there was a need for rapid evacuation of wounded soldiers from the battlefield, and he...