Alexis Boyer

Who was Alexis Boyer?

Alexis Boyer was a French surgeon, born in Corrèze.

He was the son of a tailor, and he obtained his first medical knowledge in the shop of a barber surgeon. When he moved to Paris, he had the good fortune to attract the attention of renowned surgeons Antoine Louis and Pierre-Joseph Desault. Boyer persevered at his profession, and became notorious for his anatomical knowledge and surgical dexterity. At the age of 37 he was appointed second surgeon to the Hôtel-Dieu in Paris. On the establishment of the École de Sante, he was named chair of operative surgery, but soon exchanged it for the chair of clinical surgery. Boyer specialized in urological pathology, especially disorders of micturition.

Boyer was a cautious and finicky physician, not always trusting of new innovations in treatment. He practiced and wrote with skill and sense. His two masterworks are Trait complet de l'anatomie, of which a fourth edition appeared in 1815, and Trait des maladies chirurgicales et des operations qui leur conviennent, of which a newer edition in seven volumes was published in 1844–1853 with additions by his son, Philippe Boyer.