Jan Palfijn

Who was Jan Palfijn?

Jan Palfijn was a Flemish surgeon and obstetrician who was a native of Kortrijk, Flanders. He practiced medicine in Ypres and Paris, and in 1697 moved to Ghent, where he remained for the rest of his career.

Palfijn is remembered for introducing the obstetrical forceps into medicine in the early 1720s. Palfijn's forceps initially had a problem because the two separate halves occasionally shifted during use. Later the two halves of the forceps were linked by a hinge to correct the problem.

In 1718 Palfijn published an influential work for surgeons called l'Anatomie du corps humain. Reportedly, this book was still in use in Japan in the latter part of the 19th century. Today in Ghent there are the Palfijn Medical Museum and the Jan Palfijn Hospital.