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Resource Name:
Resource Type:
External Resource
Metadata
Asset Name:
E002846 - De Vernejoul, Robert (1890 - 1992)
Title:
De Vernejoul, Robert (1890 - 1992)
Author:
Tom Treasure
Identifier:
RCS: E002846
Publisher:
London : Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date:
2012-09-07

2012-12-21
Description:
Obituary for De Vernejoul, Robert (1890 - 1992), Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
Language:
English
Source:
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Full Name:
De Vernejoul, Robert
Date of Birth:
19 March 1890
Place of Birth:
Montcaret, Dordogne, France
Date of Death:
15 October 1992
Titles/Qualifications:
FRSC 1971
Details:
Robert de Vernejoul was a prominent French cardiac surgeon. He was born on 19 March 1890 at Montcaret in the Dordogne. His father was a pastor. He came from a noble family, originally from the village of Vernajoul near Foix. His ancestors can be traced back to 16th century. He was educated at the Lycée Blaise-Pascal in Clermont-Ferrand and studied medicine in Marseilles. He deferred his internship, having decided to do military service. In 1914 Robert de Vernejoul was mobilised in Toulon and went to the front with the 8th Régiment de Marche de Zouaves. His heroic action at Verdun in 1916 earned him la croix de L'Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur. The citation noted that he was the only doctor and worked day and night with tireless devotion. It recounted that, although he was wounded himself, he continued to treat the injured under heavy fire. In the trenches he decided to convert to Catholicism. He warned his father, who simply responded: do what your conscience tells you. After being demobilised, he married Madeleine Hotz, the daughter of Florent Hotz from Alsace. He resumed his internship in Marseilles, was appointed hospital surgeon in 1923 and head of the department in 1934. He became one of the masters of gastrointestinal surgery in France. In 1939, when the Second World War was declared, he recognised neither the defeat of France nor the Vichy government. He joined the resistance and the medical committee presided over by Louis Pasteur Vallery-Radot. He was elevated to commandeur de L'Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur, which he received personally from General de Gaulle in recognition of his actions in the resistance. In 1951, aged 61, he turned down an invitation to become Minister of Health so that he could continue his hospital and university work, but nevertheless maintained a friendly relationship with General de Gaulle. He could have continued to quietly accumulate more experience in general surgery but, sensing the direction that surgery was taking, in 1947 he introduced experimental surgery to Marseilles, and from 1948 held top clinical and research appointments at Hôpital de la Conception and Hôpital de la Timone. Following several visits to the United States, he introduced cardiac surgery and a second career began for Robert de Vernejoul. Working with Francois d'Allaines and Paul Santy, surgery for persistent ductus arteriosus, coarctation and mitral stenosis was added to the operating lists. At the same time, in his research laboratory, he was experimenting with hypothermia and cardiopulmonary bypass, work which he presented to the L'Académie Nationale de Chirurgie in 1952. In 1956 Robert de Vernejoul was elected president of the national council of L'Ordre des Médecins, a position he held for 14 years. Throughout the 1960s he remained active and influential in matters concerning the organisation of hospitals, medical training and the ethical implications of medical innovation. At 73 he chaired the 65th French Congress of Surgery and, in the same year, 1963, he was elected to the Académie Nationale de Médecine. Jean-Paul Binet writes that, at the age of 90, he was still '…overflowing with vitality, ideas, [and] desire for change'. Robert de Vernejoul died on 15 October 1992.
Sources:
Binet JP: 'Epic of Mr de Vernejoul (March 19, 1890-October 14, 1992)'

Vacheron A. 'Robert de Vernejoul (1890-1992)'. *Arch Mal Coeur Vaiss* 1993 Mar;86(3):380-82

Cerbonnet G. 'Robert de Vernejoul (1890-1992)'. *Chirurgie* 1993-1994;119(1-2):15-24

*Bull Acad Natl Med* 1994 Jan;178 (1):75-84
Rights:
Copyright (c) The Royal College of Surgeons of England
Collection:
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format:
Obituary
Format:
Asset
Asset Path:
Root/Lives of the Fellows/E002000-E002999/E002800-E002899
Media Type:
Unknown