François Gigot de la Peyronie

Who was François Gigot de la Peyronie?

François Gigot de la Peyronie was a French surgeon who was born in Montpellier, France. His name is associated with a condition known as Peyronie's disease.

As a teenager he studied philosophy and surgery in Montpellier, where in 1695 he received his diploma as a barber-surgeon. He continued his education in Paris as a student of Georges Mareschal, who was chief-surgeon at the Hôpital de la Charité. Afterwards he returned to Montpellier as lecturer on anatomy and surgery, and was surgeon-major at the Hôtel-Dieu de Montpellier. In 1714 Peyronie returned to Paris, where he was appointed surgeon-major at the Hôpital de la Charité. In Paris he also taught anatomy at the Jardin du Roi and at the amphitheatre of Saint-Côme.

In 1736, after the death of Mareschal, he became first-surgeon to King Louis XV. He took interest in the medical educational system, and was instrumental in reorganization of surgical schools. He was a major factor regarding the creation of a 1743 law that banned barbers from practicing surgery. With Georges Mareschal, he founded the Royal Academy of Surgery, and was its chairman from 1736 to 1747.